Welcome aboard: A number of the KRI Nenggala’s crew members stand on the ship’s deck as it arrives at the Navy's Eastern Fleet (Koarmatim) headquarters in Surabaya, East Java on Monday. The submarine just underwent an overhaul at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in Okpo, South Korea. (Photo: Antara/M Risyal Hidayat)

February 6 2012, Surabaya: The capabilities of Indonesian submarines are now on par with those fielded by neighboring countries after undergoing an overhaul in South Korea, Navy chief of staff Adm. Soeparno said Monday.

He was speaking at a ceremony welcoming the return of KRI Nanggala 402, which had been undergoing an overhaul process for the past 24 months by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) in Busan, South Korea.

Made in 1981 by German shipbuilder Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel, the Type 209/1300 KRI Nanggala was the second submarine after being overhauled at DSME facilities after KRI Cakra 401 was overhauled in 2006.

“With the completion of the overhaul, now the capabilities of our submarines are on par with submarines deployed by our neighbors,” Soeparno told reporters after the ceremony at the Navy Eastern Fleet Command pier in Surabaya.

Malaysia has two French-made Scorpene class submarines. Singapore operates four Challenger-class submarines and two Archer-class submarines that were acquired from the Swedish Navy. Australia operates six Collins-class submarines that were built under cooperation with Sweden. Australia will modernize its submarine fleet by building 12 new larger submarines still in cooperation with Sweden. Vietnam will begin to receive four Russian-made Kilo class submarines from 2015.

During the overhaul process, KRI Nanggala was undergoing a retrofit, including replacing the upper structure from bow to stern, some parts of the propulsion system, sonar, radar, weapons system and combat management system (CMS).

KRI Nanggala can now submerge to a depth of 257-meters with a top speed of 25 knots, increasing from 21.5 knots.

Commanded by Lt. Col. Purwanto, the submarine has a complement of 50 personnel, including a special force unit for infiltration.

The implementation of the latest CMS allows the submarine to simultaneously fire four wire-guided surface underwater torpedoes (SUTs) in a salvo at four different targets. The 1,395-ton submarine can also fire eight torpedoes at the same time if needed. The CMS upgrade also allows the submarine to launch sub-missiles at surface or air targets.

“There are several types of missiles that can be launched, including Harpoon, Exocet, SUT or other types,” said Col. Tunggul Suropati, former taskforce chief from the Cakra-Nanggala overhaul in South Korea.

The Defense Ministry and DSME had signed a contract to procure three submarines worth about US$1.1 billion. The first two submarines will be manufactured in Busan, while the third at state shipyard PT PAL facilities in Surabaya through a transfer-of-technology mechanism. Indonesian engineers will also be involved in the production of the first two submarines.

Source: the Jakarta Post

RI Navy's Submarine Returning From S Korea After Repair

KRI Nanggala-402. (Photo: Kaskus)

February 5 2012, Jakarta: The Indonesian Navy's submarine "KRI Nanggala-402" has arrived in Indonesian waters after undergoing a comprehensive repair for two years in South Korea, an navy officer said.

"KRI Nanggala which is expected to dock at Ujung Surabaya pier of the Navy's Eastern Fleet Command on Monday has probably arrived in Java Sea," the Navy's Spokesman Commodore Untung Soropati said here on Sunday.

He said KRI Nanggala will officially be welcomed by Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Soeparno and Chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission I Mahfudz Siddiq.

Like 'KRI Cakra-401', KRI Nanggala also underwent a total repair at South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Okpo.

The return of KRI Nanggala-402, a German made submarine, type U-209/1300 built in 1981, will reinforce the combat fleet of the country's Navy as a submarine arsenal along with KRI Cakri-401.

Source: Antara Bali

Navy Helicopter Makes Emergency Landing In Tegal

(Photo: ANTARA/Oky Lukmansyah/ss/pd/12)

January 25 2012, Tegal, Central Java: A navy helicopter made an emergency landing in a field in Padaharja, Kramat sub-district, Tegal, Central Java, on Wednesday because of bad weather.

The pilot of the HU-417 helicopter of Squadron 400 said he had to make the emergency landing because visibility was too low.

"Visibility was only 10 meters so it would have been dangerous if we continued the flight," he said.

He said he was on the way from Surabaya in East Java to Jakarta when suddenly the weather turned bad and winds were very strong at around 12.30 hours.

He said he should have landed in Jakarta by now as the flight by helicopter would only take around 3.5 hours.

"But because of the bad weather we had to stop the journey and landed in Tegal." He had landed in Semarang before because of rain and for refueling.

Tegal navy base commander Lt. Col Frich Flack said this was the second incident.

"Initially we did not know that a helicopter had landed in Kramat because there was no information from the central command. I have suggested they would fly on Thursday while waiting for the weather to clear up," he said.

Source: ANTARA Bali

Navy to Procure 24 Fast Boats to Patrol Shallow Waters

(Photo: Indonesia MoD)

January 5 2011, Batam: The Indonesian Navy plans to acquire 24 guided-missile fast boats to be deployed in shallow waters in the western part of the country, a top Navy officer said on Wednesday.

Assistant for planning to the Navy chief of staff, Rear Adm. Sumartono, said the Navy had confirmed the order for the 24 patrol boats.

“When we will buy them depends on the Defense Ministry’s financial ability,” he told reporters.

“They will be deployed in the western part of Indonesia and in North Sulawesi.”

Sumartono was speaking at the sidelines of a visit by Deputy Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin to privately-owned shipyard PT Palindo Marine’s facilities in Tanjung Uncang, Batam, in Riau Islands.

The company has delivered two guided-missile fast boats, KRI Clurit and KRI Kujang, to the Navy and is working on a third boat. Each boat, worth Rp 73 billion (US$7.98 million), has a top speed of 30 knots.

Palindo director Harmanto said the production of the boats was 45 percent locally sourced.

“We use special steel from state-owned steelmaker PT Krakatau Steel for the bows and hull,” he said.

The 40-meter boats come with Chinese C-705 anti-ship missiles with a range up to 120 kilometers, a six-barrel 30-millimeter close-in weapons system and two 20-millimeter guns.

Meanwhile, Sjafrie said that private shipyards were better than state-owned ones in conducting transfer of technology (ToT) processes for naval platforms.

He said that state-owned shipyard PT PAL should copy the practices of private shipyards such as in workers’ recruitment and payment to improve their performance.

Sjafrie emphasized that PT PAL had to start recruiting young workers in their 20s to be ready for ToT in the manufacture of submarines.

Indonesia has ordered three submarines from Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering (DSME) of South Korea worth $1.07 billion. The third submarine will be built at PT PAL’s facilities in Surabaya.

“PT PAL has to be restructured so that its human resources can compete with those of private companies,” Sjafrie said.

“Fresh graduate engineers should be paid at least Rp 5 million per month while vocational school graduates Rp 3 million Sjafrie stressed that there was no longer a monopoly in naval systems and the private sector had the same opportunities to win contracts as long as the requirements were met.

Also in the entourage were the ministry’s Defense Facilities Agency chief, Maj. Gen. Ediwan Prabowo, former navy chief Adm. (ret) Sumardjono, PT PAL management as well as ministry officials.

In addition to PT Palindo Marine, the group also visited PT Citra Shipyard and PT Bandar Abadi to observe their facilities.

Source: the Jakarta Post

Vice Admiral Soeparno is new RI Navy`s chief of staff

Indonesia's new military chief Admiral Agus Suhartono (L) and new navy commander Admiral Soeparno take an oath during a swearing-in ceremony at the presidential palace in Jakarta September 28, 2010. (Photo: Reuters)

September 30, 2010, Surabaya, East Java - Vice Admiral Soeparno has become chief of staff of the Indonesian Navy succeeding Admiral Agus Suhartono who has been appointed chief of the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI).

The transfer of office of the naval chief of staff was carried out at the Ujung pier in the compound of the Navy`s Eastern Fleet Command here Thursday.

The ceremony was led by General Djoko Santoso, the outgoing TNI chief, and attended by among others East Java Governor Saifullah Yusuf, East Java Provincial Military Chief Insp. General Badrodin Haiti, two former chiefs of of staff of the Navy, respectively Admiral (ret.) Soedomo and Admiral (ret.) Bernard kent Sondakh.

Vice Admiral Soeparno was officially installed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the news chief of staff of the Navy. On the occasion, the head of state also installed Admiral Agus Suhartono as the TNI chief.

A day earlier Admiral Agus Suhartono and Vice Admiral Soeparno had conducted an Admiral Inspection at the Navy`s Eastern Fleet Command headquarters.

The Admiral Inspection has been traditionally organized to bid farewell to the old Navy chief and to introduce the new one.

Soeparno is named as the Navy chief based on Presidential Decree No. 52/TNI/2010. He graduated from the Navy Academy in 1978.

ANTARA News

Post of navy chief transferred to Soeparno

(Photo: detikFoto/Zainal Effendi)

September 30, 2010, Jakarta - The Navy chief post will be transferred Thursday morning from Admiral Agus Suhartono to Vice Admiral Soeparno.

The ceremony for the transfer of the post will be held at the headquarters of the Navy`s Eastern Fleet Command in Surabaya, East Java.

Soeparno is named as the Navy chief based on Presidential Decree No. 52/TNI/2010. He graduated from the Navy Academy in 1978.

Soeparno is appointed as the Navy chief succeeding Agus Suhartono who has been named as the commander of the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI).

(ANTARA News)

Indonesia Plans to Purchase 5 Submarines

Indonesia's submarines.

September 30, 2010 -- The Indonesian Defence Ministry has plans to purchase five submarines worth $350m-$400m each by the end of 2010 to strengthen maritime security in Indonesian waters.

State shipbuilder PT PAL president director Harsusanto said the ministry might hold a tender on the submarines this year.

Harsusanto said the company was expecting to be awarded the contract to construct the submarines.

PAL is currently working with Demen Schelde Naval Shipyard (DSNS) to build a new guided missile escort ordered by the Defence Ministry.

The Indonesian military (TNI) will require at least Rp57tn ($6.4bn) for weapons procurement in the next five years, according to the Jakarta Post.

Naval Technology