I thought I've read somewhere that RMN actually send officials to evaluate Makassar-class LPD and for all it's worth (maybe not much), they decided against the procurement due to being simply a navalized ferry.

French jet fighters in town to woo Defense Ministry, Air Force

Nani Afrida

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | March 24 2015 | 6:08 PM

Two Dessault Rafale jet fighters from the French Air Force are in Jakarta to seduce Indonesia into purchasing the multirole jets to replace the Indonesian Air Force's ageing American-made Northrop F-5 Tiger E/F II jet fighters.

“The jets flew directly to Indonesia after attending the 2015 Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace [LIMA] exhibition in Malaysia,” Air Force chief spokesman Air Commodore Hadi Tjahjanto told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The visiting jet fighters arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma airport on Monday. On Tuesday, the jet fighters, a Rafale B double-seater and a Rafale C single-seater, performed solo demos for officials from the Defense Ministry and Air Force officers.

The two jet fighters were accompanied by an Airbus A400M heavy transport aircraft and a KC-135 tanker aircraft.

Rafale, made by French aerospace firm Dassault Aviation, came to Jakarta as the French airframer was aware that Indonesia is planning to replace its fleet of F-5 E/F.

“Rafale jets will demo their abilities for Indonesian pilots and Air Force officers until Thursday,” Hadi said.

The French jet fighter is entering a tough competition, locking horns with a stable of other contenders including the Russian-made Sukhoi Su-35, American-made F-16 Block 60, Swedish-made Saab JAS-39 Gripen and Eurofighter Typhoon, a collaboration between Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.

The Air Force has repeatedly said it prefers the Su-35, the latest iteration of the Flanker family of jet fighters, although the final decision will be made by the Defense Ministry.

“Any jet fighter is ok for the Air Force, as long as the jet fighters can meet our requirement, which is that they come from the 4.5 Generation,” Hadi said. (nvn)(+++)

that Armata tank looks so next-gen

I'm pretty sure we can afford it if we wanted to
It's only like what, 30 million?
It's basically a ferry converted to lpd with civilian specs
No military spec lpd is gonna cost 30 million
Sailing to somalia is not really a big deal

Yes they did. Morning session.
Exact same RAFALE and a400 from LIMA. Since theyare in the region wont hurt to try luck with aggresive indonesia

I'm pretty sure we can afford it if we wanted to
It's only like what, 30 million?
It's basically a ferry converted to lpd with civilian specs
No military spec lpd is gonna cost 30 million
Sailing to somalia is not really a big deal

ferry is use in inland waterways not in ocean.
LPD/LCT is much alike commercial ship difference only in armament/Radar/Sensor, which can easily to be installed.

what is different military and commercial one do you think? others than weaponry.

if RMN can afford it, why need to convert container ship to become warship?

The Broadsword range includes a wearable power pack called the Spine It uses e-textiles woven from conductive yarns to wirelessly charge devices BAE's inductive seat charger transfers energy from a vehicle to the vest  And all of this energy use can be monitored using a smartphone app  Other equipment in the range includes Q-Warrior augmented reality visor

Anyway that all is just hearsay/gripevines or something, as rmn is more interested in models like the dokdo as past news have surfaced of the trying to acquire the "mini dokdo" which also might serve as the flagship carrier for the menhan's dream of an all-new marine brigade

The bunga mas were like a free gift anyway from misc berhad, it cost only rm1 per-ship
A security coperation with local company to secure malaysian asset and interest

I'm pretty sure we can afford it if we wanted to
It's only like what, 30 million?
It's basically a ferry converted to lpd with civilian specs
No military spec lpd is gonna cost 30 million
Sailing to somalia is not really a big deal

Fachru Zaini Isnanto (L), Commander of Indonesia's National Air Defence Sector 1, shakes hands with French pilot Sebastien Dupont De-Dinechin ® after a flight aboard a Dassault Rafale multirole fighter aircraft at the Halim airport in Jakarta on March 25, 2015. A pair of Dassault Rafale multirole fighter aircraft, made by French aerospace firm Dassault Aviation, performed flight demonstrations for Indonesian defence officials in the capital on March 25. AFP PHOTO / ADEK BERRY (Photo credit should read ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images)

Credit: ADEK BERRY / stringer

Exhibitors Praise LIMA Show Despite Few Contracts

by Chris Pocock - March 20, 2015, 8:29 AM

The Malaysian government announced 26 deals worth $2.5 million during the Langkawi International Marine and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) this week. Upon closer examination, however, only seven were aerospace-related, and only two of these were firm contracts. However, exhibitors polled by AIN declared themselves satisfied with the show, because a large number of senior military officers visited the event. LIMA coincided with a meeting of ASEAN defense ministers, accompanied by their military staffs. Also, two conferences at LIMA attracted the chiefs of air forces and navies from about 20 countries.

Pilatus received a contract to supply five more PC-7 Mk II turboprop trainers for the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). Thales Optronics will supply more avionics and communications for the RMAF’s Sukhoi Su-30MKM combat aircraft. Local company Zetro Services and Thales Raytheon Systems received letters of acceptance (LoAs) for maintenance of air defense radars and an operations center, respectively. But the predicted contracts for the upgrade of the RMAF’s C-130H Hercules transports and S61A-4 Nuri helicopters failed to materialize. However, Canadian avionics house CMC-Esterline said it had been selected as the partner to Malaysian MRO Airod for the C-130H upgrade, in preference to Marshall Aerospace of the UK and Aeronautics of the U.S.

The Nuri glass-cockpit upgrade appears to be on hold and may be rebid, after a prototype conversion designed by Vector Aerospace and performed recently by Airod apparently failed to satisfy the RMAF. Malaysia still has 28 of these transport helicopters, all of them at least 45 years old. The RMAF is receiving 12 Airbus EC725s as their partial replacement, having decided to retain 16 S-61s because they have flown only 14,000 hours on average, versus 60,000 for commercial counterpart S-61s. The other 12 are being transferred to the Army, with the first pair handed over by the RMAF at LIMA.

Thales announced that all four of the RMAF’s Beechcraft King Air 200s would be fitted with the AMASCOS maritime surveillance mission system, with three already completed. An Indonesian Navy CN-235 fitted with the same system was on static display, and so was Boeing’s Challenger MSA demonstrator. Although piracy in the Malacca Straits seems to have been overcome, there are plenty of other maritime surveillance requirements in the region, including search and rescue, as demonstrated by the massive but vain search for MH370 last year.

After an unexpected armed incursion into eastern Malaysia in 2013, the government boosted military deployments there and went shopping for armed helicopters and surveillance UAVs. As an interim move, machine guns have been added to some of the Nuris and the Army’s AgustaWestland A109s. But a potential future buy of attack helicopters brought Bell Helicopters and MD Helicopters to the show with the UH-1Y and MD530G, respectively, while Boeing was briefing both the AH-6i and the AH-64. The RMAF has also stated a light attack aircraft requirement, but as with the AEW and multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA) requirements, no funding has been allocated. That did not prevent France sending two air force Rafales from their deployed base at Abu Dhabi to LIMA, where they flew RMAF pilots in a two-seater twice daily, in addition to a flying display. U.S. Navy Super Hornets and a Thai Air Force Gripen were on static display, as well as the full-scale Eurofighter Typhoon model, all being MRCA candidates.

As for surveillance UAVs, the Malaysian military has experimented with two local projects along the coastline of the two eastern states, using Schiebel Camcopters and Boeing/Insitu Scan Eagles, without much success. At LIMA, the government signed an MoU to acquire a UAV system from oil company Petronas. AIN learned that this is another couple of Camcopters, which were originally acquired by Petronas for pipeline security patrols. Petronas recently converted a surplus oil rig for use by the armed forces as a floating platform for helicopters, UAV and small patrol boats that can be placed in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

military and naval commercial spec hull ...totally different. its like comparing american muscle car vs perodua kancil. thats why u see naval commercial hull is cheaper than military standard hull even both used same system and sensor.

ppl always asking why we buy gowind class rather than cheaper sigma class like indonesian did. one of the reason is the hull. Sigma is not fully military standard spec. so military spec vs naval commercial spec not only about sensor,weapon or system. it is more than that.

RMN used bunga emas as auxiliary ship because is free gift. Orang sudah bagi navy free ship .. guna la dey.