Indonesian Navy set to have domestically built frigate in 2016
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya | National | Thu, April 17 2014, 10:41 AM
National News
The Indonesian Navy will soon have its own domestically made frigate when the construction of the PKR 10514 guided-missile destroyer escort is completed in 2016.
Navy chief of staff Adm. Marsetio led a keel laying ceremony for the PKR, which the navy classifies as a frigate, at the state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL Indonesia in Surabaya on Wednesday. The warship is being built under the supervision of Dutch shipbuilder Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS).
“The PKR frigate will have the modern surface warfare capabilities being equipped with [anti-ship] Exocet missile, anti-submarine warfare with torpedoes, anti-aircraft warfare and electronic warfare,” Marsetio said after the ceremony.
The new warship is the largest to be built domestically with a length of 105 meters and a width of 14 meters.
Marsetio was accompanied by the Defense Ministry’s Defense Facilities Agency chief Rear Adm. Rachmat Lubis, Dutch Ambassador to Jakarta Tjeerd F de Zwan, and DSNS CEO Hen van Ameijden.
The Defense Ministry ordered two PKR 10514s with a contract of US$220 million. The first steel cutting was conducted in January to mark the start of the frigate construction.
Rachmat said the contract already covered training for PT PAL’s engineers both at home and in the Netherlands and weaponry for the frigates, which must include domestically made weapon systems.
“Initially the warship was to be fully built abroad but after some 175 discussions, it was agreed that the production would be conducted jointly with PT PAL,” he said.
The construction is divided into six modules, of which four would be built at PT PAL’s facility while the remaining two, engine and bridge, would be built in Vlissingen.
“Once finished, the two modules from the Netherlands would be brought and assembled here at PT PAL,” Marsetio said.
The navy chief guarnateed that although most of the modules were to be built in Indonesia, the quality would still be the same with those made in the Netherlands construction would be conducted under the direct supervision of a special DSNS team.
The first ship is expected to be completed in December 2016 while the second frigate in October 2017.
Meanwhile, van Ameijden was upbeat that the cooperation would go smoothly.
“Early January there was nothing here [the shipyard] but today we can see [....] there is good progress. [the project] is still ongoing,” he said. (nvn)
Indonesian Navy set to have domestically built frigate in 2016 | The Jakarta Post
PT PAL Indonesia to produce warship
Wed, April 16 2014 19:08 |
Photo document of PT PAL (Persero) facilities. (pal.co.id)
Surabaya (ANTARA News) - State-owned ship building company PT PAL Indonesia started building a Watchtower Missile Destroyer frigate on Wednesday to meet the ministry of defenses order.
"To realize the production of the warship we steered the keel laying for the PKR frigate, today" the company President Director M Firmansyah Arifin stated, while attending the keel laying ceremony at PT PAL Indonesia shipyard here in Surabaya, East Java.
He noted that the ship will be made complete with facilities and equipment including equipment for undersea war such as torpedoes and helicopter pad.
"The ship is also capable of dealing with air war with its air defense missiles," he confirmed.
The start of the production of the PKR frigate marked the company commitment to realizing the contract between the ministry of defense and the Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS).
"The shipbuilding project will also bring benefit to us through the DSNS transfer of technology program," he clarified.
On the occasion, Indonesian navy chief of staff Admiral Marsetio commented that the ship will also be capable of conducting an electronic war and equipment installed for it would be complete.
"We are convinced with the equipment that the navy could rely on the PKR frigate for securing the Indonesian territorial waters," he reinstated.
The shipbuilding project is a cooperation project between PT PAL and DSNS from the Netherlands.
"The project is divided into six modules or sections with four of them to be built by PT PAL while the other two, consisting of the engineering system and platform, in the Netherlands," he added.
If the two modules are completed in the Netherlands, they will be brought to Indonesia to be assembled at PT PAL along with the six modules.
He pointed out that although six modules will be built in Indonesia, their quality is assured because they are built under Dutch supervision.
"The 105-meter long ship is the first out of the two ordered by the navy. We estimate that the production process will take around 48 months or it will finish at the end of December 2016," he confirmed. ***2***
(H-YH/INE/a014)
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PT PAL Indonesia to produce warship - ANTARA News