Indonesia Lays Keel Of First ‘Red White’ Frigate

[Zarvan]

Red White Frigate design presented during the first steel cutting ceremony in December 2022. PT PAL picture

Indonesia Lays Keel Of First ‘Red White’ Frigate​

On August 25, the keel laying ceremony for the first of two Red White frigates was held at Indonesian state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL Indonesia’s facility in Surabaya City, East Java. Based on Babcock's Arrowhead 140 design, it is said that with a 140-metre length and a displacement of 5,996 tons, the Red White frigate will be the largest and most advanced surface combatant ever constructed in Indonesia.​

Fauzan Malufti 26 Aug 2023
Based on Babcock's Arrowhead 140 design, the vessel is Indonesia’s largest locally-built Surface Combatant

Based on PT PAL’s publications, the contract for the construction of two frigates was signed with the Indonesian Ministry of Defence on April 30, 2020. On May 24, 2021, the contract became effective. In September 2021, the shipyard signed a design license agreement with Babcock that enabled PT PAL to build two Arrowhead 140-based frigates locally.

The first steel cutting of the first frigate (construction number W000304) was conducted on December 9, 2022, whilst the progress of the second frigate (construction number W000305) remains unclear.

Keel Laying Ceremony of the first Red White Frigate. Two hull sections can be seen in the background. PT PAL picture.

“We congratulate PT PAL on this significant milestone of keel laying for the first of their new frigates. This is also an exciting time for Babcock and our Arrowhead 140 export programme as we proudly see our design coming to fruition. Our customers, and the mission we share, inspire us each and every day to strive for excellence – we look forward to seeing this programme develop in Indonesia,”


David Lockwood, CEO of Babcock

The first and second frigate should be delivered in 57 months and 69 months, respectively, from the effective contract date. Previously, PT PAL said that it also used its previous experience in building the SIGMA 10514 frigate (PKR) (with the Dutch shipbuilder Damen) to work on the Red White frigate.

According to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of PT PAL, Iqbal Fikri, the frigate project was part of the Indonesian Government’s commitment to advance and enhance the capacity and capability of the domestic defence industry, including to minimise dependence on imported platforms weapons.

For the record, two weeks prior to this milestone, PT PAL kicked off the construction of the Landing Platform Dock (LPD) for the Philippine Navy.

Red White Frigate​

Red White Frigate design presented during the first steel cutting ceremony in December 2022. PT PAL picture

The frigate class is, for now, called by Indonesian officials as the “Merah Putih” (Red White) Frigate based on the colors of the Indonesian flag.

In 2021, PT PAL stated that the frigate will have a Combined diesel and diesel (CODAD) propulsion with a maximum speed of 28 knots (full load) and an endurance of 9,000 at a speed of 18 knots. Moreover, the ship will be equipped with a 24-cell vertical launching system (VLS) for medium-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), 32-cell VLS for long-range SAMs, and 16-cell for surface-to-surface missiles (SSMs).

Based on the design presented during the keel laying ceremony, two 76 mm naval gun systems (by Leonardo) will be fitted forward (which is a rare configuration). Meanwhile, according to several reports, the frigate’s combat management system (CMS) will be supplied by Turkish company Havelsan. If this is confirmed, then the sensor suite will likely include Turkish systems as well (including the radar systems). Havelsan’s ADVENT CMS was already selected by TNI AL for its KCR60 class. Local rumors also mentioned a combination of MBDA ASTER surface to air missiles and Indian Brahmos anti-ship missiles but this is yet to be formally confirmed.

Nevertheless, the final configuration of the ship could change depending on the Ministry of Defence and/or the Indonesian Navy’s (TNI AL) budget and mission requirements.

Ministry of Defence, PT PAL, and TNI AL officials inspecting the keel and hull section of Red White Frigate. PT PAL Picture.
Babcock’s Arrowhead 140 design (itself based on the Danish OMTS Iver Huitfeldt-class frigate) is currently under production for three navies:

– Type 31 program in the UK
– Miecznik program in Poland
– Red White frigate program in Indonesia

Xavier Vavasseur contributed to this story.

Indonesia Lays Keel of First 'Red White' Frigate - Naval News

On August 25, PT PAL Indonesia laid the keel of the first Red White Frigate for the Indonesian Navy (TNI AL).

www.navalnews.com

 

[Indos]

We will likely continue building it until we have around 4 - 6 ships.

 

[NG Missile Vessels]

Local rumors also mentioned a combination of MBDA ASTER surface to air missiles and Indian Brahmos anti-ship missiles but this is yet to be formally confirmed

@Indos Are you guys opting for Brahmos NG? The NG version is much faster, capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 3.5

 

[Indos]

@Indos Are you guys opting for Brahmos NG? The NG version is much faster, capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 3.5
View attachment 948781

Previously PT PAL made some redesigned and extend the ship lenght about 3- 4 meters in order to accomodate Brahmos missiles, but this plan get opposition from Babcok. This redesign work that take the ship production some delay, in the end that lengthen redesigned is not approved.

So the ship will not get Brahmost. But new design made by PT PAL maybe will accomodate it, but I guess Navy want to increase current Babcock design until 4 - 6 ships, so it will take much longer time if the previous plan will be realized using PT PAL own design.