JAKARTA, INDONESIA — In a bid to buttress its defence capabilities, Indonesia is manufacturing its own war ships and submarines, part of which includes a collaboration with one of South Korea’s shipbuilding titans.
State-owned defence company PT PAL has worked with Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering to produce submarines since 2013.
The Indonesia-South Korea partnership has manufactured three submarines: The KRI Nagapasa- 403 in 2017, the KRI Ardadedali-404 in 2018, and the KRI Alugoro-405.
The first two ships, produced in South Korea, have been used in operations.
As many as 206 Indonesian technicians were involved in the manufacturing process of the KRI-Alugoro.
More recently, Indonesia and South Korea are working jointly on the development of the KF-X and the IF-X war jets.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on 28 June that ministers from the two nations have “agreed to closely co-operate to make sure that mutually beneficial, substantive co-operation projects like the KF-21/IF-X project will proceed smoothly”.
Indonesia has also agreed on the purchase of six units of trainer jets from South Korea’s Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) in a S$240 million deal.
Indonesia’s Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Yudo Margono said that stealth missile ship KRI Golok-688, launched in Banyuwangi in East Java, is capable of being deployed in all types of operations, from war to non-war ones.
The hit-and-run ship—produced by PT Lundin Industry Invest—is the first one made of carbon fibre composite, making it difficult to be detected by potential adversaries.
With higher specific strength, it is also more lightweight and is highly resistant to corrosion.
The 28-knot ship is equipped with a 30-mm cannon and a 12.7-mm gun with a cruising speed of 16 knots. It can carry around 25 crew members.
Admiral Yudo said that the ship will complete its manufacturing process in October 2021, adding that the boat will be dispatched in the country’s most strategic waters such as the Natuna and the Ambalat waters.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) data in April 2021 revealed that Indonesia’s military spending was the seventh-largest in Asia — making up 0.9 per cent of its national GDP.
The Indonesian government has allocated Rp 133 trillion for defence in the 2022 State Budget draft, down from the 2021 State Budget with Rp 137.3 trillion.
The 2020 budget will be used for developments in defence, order and security to ensure that national development programmes will run as smoothly as planned.
