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Indonesia nixes Russian used sub deal
The Indonesian Navy chief of staff Adm
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he Indonesian Navy chief of staff Adm. Marsetio said Wednesday that a Russian offer for two second-hand Kilo-class submarines had been turned down because they were in poor condition.
'After we visited the location, we came to the conclusion that the second-hand submarines were not seaworthy,' he told journalists.
'The submarines have been idle for two years. Their engines and other components are damaged. It will be too costly to repair them.'
Marsetio was speaking on the sidelines of a display of the Navy's latest primary weapon systems, which included warships, helicopters and missiles, at Madura Pier, Ujung, Surabaya, the Eastern Fleet headquarters.
He added that the Navy was concentrating on the building of three South Korean-made Changbogo-class submarines. The third submarine will be built at state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL in Surabaya as part of a transfer-of-technology from Korea.
Meanwhile, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono instructed the acceleration of the building of 12 submarines by local shipbuilders after the Changbogo project was completed.
Indonesia's current submarines, the U-206 type KRI Cakra-401 and KRI Nanggala-402, were made by German shipyard Howaldtswerke in Kiel, Germany, and were commissioned in 1981.
The Changbogo itself is a derivative of the German-made U-209 submarine. (nvn)
