Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) is celebrating a monumental achievement. The GAMAFORCE UGM 2025 Team again made history by capturing the Overall Champion title at the Indonesian Flying Robot Contest (Kontes Robot Terbang Indonesia/KRTI) this year. This victory marks the eighth time that UGM has attained the highest honor at the KRTI. The 2025 competition took place from Oct. 16 to 20, 2025, at Sutan Sjahrir Air Force Base in Padang, with Universitas Andalas serving as the host. This success further cements GAMAFORCE UGM’s presence in Indonesia’s aerospace technology research landscape.
At KRTI 2025, GAMAFORCE achieved first place in three competition categories: Fixed Wing through team Fiachra Aeromapper, Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) through team Gadjah Mada Fighting Copter, and Long Endurance and Low Altitude (LELA) through team Virachakra.
Adam Ampu Tua Siahaan, Chair of GAMAFORCE UGM 2025, expressed his delight at this achievement.
He noted that the team had faced many obstacles since starting their research in early 2025, both technical and non-technical.
“From the beginning of the year, we began research, started building our UAV, began training, everything with full commitment from the start. Every sub-team worked hard from the beginning of the year, non-stop research, non-stop training, everyone gave their all for this competition,” he told reporters on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.
Beyond the technical team, the non-technical support team also played a major role behind the scenes.
They managed administrative tasks, research timelines, and sponsorships, which proved challenging this year.
“We also had to face efficiency issues, which directly impacted funding from the university as well as sponsorship funds. Early in the year, there was also uncertainty about KRTI due to the restructuring of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology. So when I heard that GAMAFORCE achieved such a major honor, I was thrilled, touched, and of course proud of all members,” he added.
Yet the long journey was not without significant challenges.
Adam said that in the UAV field, external factors always loom as threats.
“Challenges will always exist each year. Signal disruption due to external interference, weather suddenly changing drastically, or even components unexpectedly failing, though they were normal during training. There are so many unpredictable things that can happen,” Siahaan explained.
To prepare for such issues, GAMAFORCE has a principal strategy of training as much as possible.
Through extensive training, the team becomes more experienced in identifying potential issues and learning how to prevent or handle them before they occur.
Additionally, Siahaan stated that rather than focusing on competitors from other universities, the team prefers to concentrate on its own performance to achieve the best results.
GAMAFORCE itself comprises 127 members from various divisions.
Although not all travelled to Padang for the competition, every member contributed to the UAV innovation process.
This championship once again establishes GAMAFORCE UGM as the holder of the overall KRTI title for the eighth time.
“That title was achieved through truly extraordinary interdisciplinary teamwork. This championship is also inseparable from the support and guidance of our supervising lecturers as well as the departments, faculty, and the university, who consistently support GAMAFORCE in UAV research and development,” he concluded.
Author: Lintang Andwyna
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Lintang Andwyna
Photographs: GAMAFORCE UGM