TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Domestic submarine new milestone for Indonesia’s defense industry
The recent completion and launch of the KRI Alugoro 405 submarine, the third to join the country’s naval fleet, has marked a milestone for Indonesia in its dream of empowering the country’s domestic defense industry amid demand for modernization of its primary weaponry defense system, locally known by the acronym alutsista
Change Size
T
span>The recent completion and launch of the KRI Alugoro 405 submarine, the third to join the country’s naval fleet, has marked a milestone for Indonesia in its dream of empowering the country’s domestic defense industry amid demand for modernization of its primary weaponry defense system, locally known by the acronym alutsista.
The brand new submarine, the first to be domestically assembled, was realized through a US$1.1 billion contract sealed in December 2011 between state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL and South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) as part of a technology transfer program. The two other submarines, the KRI Nagapasa 403 and KRI Ardadedali 404, which were built in South Korea, were completed in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
“The government’s focus is to be able to independently manufacture submarines. The cooperation with South Korea to develop submarines will be continuously studied and perfected,” Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said after officially launching the KRI Alugoro 405 in Surabaya, East Java, in April.
The 61.3-meter long sub is able to hold 40 crew members and cruise for up to 50 days. With a speed of 11 knots when surfaced and 21.5 knots when under water, the submarine can roam for 18,520 kilometers. The lifespan of the 1,460-ton vessel is projected to be 30 years.
Calls for Indonesia to procure more vessels as part of the alutsista modernization program have grown strong since 1981, when the Indonesian Navy only had two German-made submarines to safeguard the country’s 3-million-square-km waters.
A day after officially introducing the locally assembled submarine, Ryamizard signed another agreement with DSME worth $1.2 billion to manufacture three more submarines within the next 77 months, as the government aims to own a total of 12 submarines to strengthen its Navy based on the minimum essential force (MEF) scheme. The next two submarines would still be developed through the technology transfer scheme, while the third one would be independently built by PT PAL.
The move is in accordance with Law No. 16/2012 on the defense industry, which stipulates that the Indonesian Military (TNI) must give priority to the domestic defense industry when procuring products, maintenance and repair services for defense equipment.
“It is a part of an attempt to realize a self-sufficient domestic defense industry, which also ensures the confidentiality of Indonesia’s alutsista,” PT PAL development director Turitan Indaryo told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.
The same confidence about expanding the domestic defense industry has also been expressed by the private sector.
Bomb maker PT Sari Bahari, for example, has sealed an agreement with partners from Eastern Europe to develop a smart kit for smart bombs through a transfer of technology scheme for the next five years. The private firm, based in Malang, East Java, has acquired the necessary technology to develop fuses for air bombs from a Bulgarian firm.
“To be able to export is our dream, but for a start we have to ensure our domestic supply first. The fact that nearly 10,000 bombs have been procured by the [Indonesian] government shows our good track record,” PT Sari Bahari president director Ricky Hendrik Egam recently told the Post.
National Defense Industry Association head Evy Lusviana expressed a similar sentiment, saying that cooperation among private sector companies and between private sector companies and state-owned firms had been well built.
“There is already a clear path now. In the past, we used to work alone but now we have good synergy with state-owned firms as well,” Evy said.
Gufron Mabruri, a defense observer from Imparsial, said that achieving MEF by 2024 was important, although he said he doubted the country could accomplish that given the limited budget and slow economic growth.
