Indonesian Navy Orders MAN Engine for Training Ship

Posted by Eric Haun
Wednesday, February 10, 2016, 11:04 AM


Graphical representations of the Kri Bima Suci (Image: MAN Diesel & Turbo)

MAN Diesel & Turbo has received an order for an MAN 6L21/31 engine to power a newbuilding cadet training sailing ship for the Defence Ministry of the Republic of Indonesia. The engine will be used to power the 110-meter Kri Bima Suci and up to 200 persons on board when not propelled by sail power. The ship is currently under construction at the Freire Shipyard in Vigo, Spain.

Lex Nijsen – Head of Four-Stroke Marine – MAN Diesel & Turbo, said, “We’re very happy to have won this unusual order, unusual in the sense that orders anywhere in the world for the building of such a large sailing vessel of 100 meters and over are few and far between.”

THURSDAY, 11 FEBRUARY, 2016 | 12:30 WIB

Brasil to Send Four More Super Tucano Jets



TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Embraer Defence and Security Brasil is set to send four more Super Tucano jets on February 29. The arrival of the new fighter-trainer jets is only within a month after the recent downing plane incident in Malang.

"We will have four more Super Tucano on February 29. AT the mean time, we will find out what went wrong," said Chief of Airforce, Air Marshall Agus Supriatna, on Wednesday.

Indonesia has been importing Super Tucano since 2012. The Airforce now have 12 planes in squadron 21, Malang.

The plane itself is specialized in counter insurgency operation (COIN) and close air support. It can mount a number of weapons, including domestic-production weapon.

EKO WIDIANTO

Littoral waters, which, broadly defined, also include key shipping choke points, make up roughly 16 percent of the world’s seas and are of critical strategic and tactical importance. As defined by the Naval Postgraduate School’s recently created Littoral Operations Center (LOC), they are near shore waters where “hydrography, geography, commerce, fishing, mining, boundaries, maneuver and sustainment issues converge, complicating both the Offense and the Defense, and placing exceptional demands on naval, aerial, and land forces that must operate, fight, and influence events there.”

To this end, the LOC, based in Monterey, Calif., focuses on developing tactics and technology to enhance the U.S. Navy’s integration of “land, air, sea and undersea operations along the world’s coastlines.” Captain Wayne Hughes, a retired naval officer, Emeritus Dean for the Naval Postgraduate School, and one of the center’s founders, recently published a paper in Proceedings magazine advocating building smaller single-purpose coastal combatants and questioning the wisdom of relying almost exclusively on large multi-purpose surface combatants such as the Arleigh Burke–class destroyers. U.S. Navy commander Phillip Pournelle, also in Proceedings, expresses a number of similar concerns about a navy built around large ships, warning that “in an age of precision-strike weapon proliferation, a big-ship navy equals a brittle fleet.”

While smaller than a Burke, the Navy’s much criticized LCSs are still relatively large ships that bring very little firepower to the littoral force given their $700 million price tag (including a mission module). For the cost of an LCSs mission module, a small littoral combatant can be purchased that would have more than enough firepower to sink the lightly constructed, under-manned LCSs. The small green-water combatants being proposed by the LOC will actually do the jobs that the Littoral Combat Ship, originally touted as costing $200 million, was supposed to do. Despite the name, the LCSs are ill-designed to fulfill the Navy’s needs. With more shallow-water ships, the Navy’s ability to conduct anti-piracy, anti-smuggling and search-and-seizure operations would be greatly expanded.

Further, the finer-grain sea control that more ships and more eyeballs bring to the battlespace would make it harder for the enemy to execute a surprise attack in the first place. Can the Navy realistically build a new class of ships in a reasonable amount of time? Partnering with friendly nations to jointly build or buy variations of existing littoral warships would allow us to start commissioning these smaller surface combatants in a matter of only a few years.

The LOC has identified a simplified, cost-reduced version of Sweden’s 600-ton Visby-class corvette or Indonesia’s new Klewang-missile corvette as possibilities for jointly building or buying. And, in a nod to just how far China has come in the last 20 years, the LOC also has identified the 200-ton Houbei-class attack boat as an inspiration for building a larger fast-attack ship of 500 to 600 tons that has greater endurance.

Swedish Navy’s Visby-class corvette HMS Helsingborg Each of these ships could be configured to carry eight or more long-range missiles capable of attacking ships and land targets. In addition to their guns and a lethal complement of missiles, they would have active and passive defenses that, coupled with their smaller visual signature, smaller radar signature, and superior maneuverability would make them far from defenseless. In coastal waters their smaller size makes them much harder to spot than longer, wider, taller warships such as the Burke, the Zumwalt-class “stealth” destroyer, and the two variants of the Navy’s LCSs. Depending on the specific ship and the configuration, the cost of these small littoral combatants should be in the $80 million to $150 million range, perhaps less for the Klewang-class corvettes. While not intended to replace big blue-water combatants like the Burke, littorally focused ships need to be a bigger part of our navy’s force structure.

Indonesia to retire Ahmad Yani-class frigates from 2017

Ridzwan Rahmat, Singapore - IHS Jane's Navy International
11 February 2016


The TNI-AL's Ahmad Yani-class guided missile frigate, KRI Abdul Halim Perdanakusuma. According to a schedule decided at the 2016 iteration of an annual naval technical and logistics work plan meeting, the class will be retired at a rate of one ship a year from 2017. Source: TNI-AL

Key Points

* Indonesia will start to decommission the Ahmad Yani class from 2017
* Retirement paves way for the induction of new SIGMA 10514 vessels

The Indonesian Navy (Tentara Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Laut, or TNI-AL) is scheduled to decommission the first of its six Ahmad Yani-class frigates in 2017, a TNI-AL source told IHS Jane's on 10 February.

The schedule was decided at the 2016 iteration of an annual naval technical and logistics work plan meeting that took place in early January at the TNI-AL's Western Fleet (KOARMABAR) headquarters in Jakarta. "The Ahmad Yani class will be decommissioned at a rate of one ship a year from 2017 until 2022," the source said.

According to IHS Jane's Fighting Ships , the vessels were first commissioned into the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) between August 1967 and May 1968 as the Van Speijk class. They were then transferred to the TNI-AL between 1986 and 1989.

Ahmad Yani-class vessels have an overall length of 113.4 m, an overall beam of 12.5 m, and a hull draught of 4.2 m. The platform displaces 2,880 tonnes at full load and can accommodate a crew of 180.

The vessel is armed with an Oto Melara 76 mm main gun as a primary weapon and four 12.7 mm machine guns for point defence. Submarine prosecution capability is facilitated by six 324 mm tubes that can deploy the Honeywell Mk 46 lightweight torpedo.

The TNI-AL, however, has not specified which of the six ships is slated to be decommissioned first in 2017.

Confirmed: Indonesia Will Buy 10 Russian Su-35 Fighter Jets

A deal will be signed by Indonesia’s defense minister during his visit to Moscow in March.

By Franz-Stefan Gady
February 11, 2016

Indonesia has agreed to purchase 10 Russian Sukhoi Su-35S multirole fighter jets, according to Indonesian media reports. Indonesia’s Minister of Defense, General Ryamizard Ryacudu, will visit Moscow in March to sign the final agreement.

Already in September 2015, Gen. Ryamizard announced that a decision to purchase Russian jets had been made.  “A decision was made to decommission U.S. F-5 Tiger fighter jets and purchase Russian aircraft instead of them,” Indonesia news agency ANTARA quoted the defense minister as saying. “The purchase will be made gradually, depending on the financial possibilities of the country’s government,” he added.

In January 2016, Indonesia’s ambassador to Russia, Djauhari Oratmangun, still only told Russian media that “negotiations are ongoing. The Minister of Defense wants to visit Russia in April to continue the discussions.” Yet, the date appears now to have been pushed forward and negotiations concluded.

Originally, Indonesia was looking to purchase 16 Su-35S.  The Ministry of Defense has “agreed to buy a squadron of Su-35s,” Ryamizard said in September 2015. However, he clarified this week: “We will buy only ten.” The defense minister also said that the deal will include pilot training and knowledge transfers through a military exchange program.

A joint military-technical cooperation commission began talks in late in November 2015 in Jakarta to discuss details of the contract, including technological transfers. (Indonesian law stipulates that at least 35 percent of the aircraft’s technology needs to be transferred to the country as part of the defense deal.)

The Su-35S is a single-seat, twin-engine upgraded fourth-generation super-maneuverable multirole fighter powered by two AL-117S turbofan engines, and featuring fifth-generation aircraft technology, including “a sophisticated avionics suite based on a digital information management system, a cutting-edge radar with a long-range aerial target acquisition and increased multiple-target tracking/engagement capabilities, and enhanced thrust-vectoring engines,” IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly explains.

Vietnam Gets Fifth Submarine from Russia

Another one of Hanoi’s six Kilo-class subs arrives.

By Prashanth Parameswaran
February 10, 2016

Last week, the fifth of six Kilo-class submarines that Vietnam bought from Russia arrived in the Southeast Asian state, local media outlets reported.

According to Thanh Nien News, the HQ-186, delivered by Dutch-registered cargo ship Rolldock Star, arrived at Cam Ranh Bay in Khanh Hoa province last Tuesday evening. The submarine laid at anchor near Cam Ranh Port and was scheduled to arrive at the port thereafter.

As I reported for The Diplomat last year, the HQ-186 underwent a trial run in the Baltic Sea on June 8 and was expected to arrive in early 2016. The fourth submarine, codenamed HQ-185 Da Nang, arrived at Cam Ranh Port back in July (See: “Vietnam Gets Fourth Submarine From Russia Amid South China Sea Tensions”).

As I noted then, the submarines are part of a deal Vietnam reached with Russia’s Admiralty Shipyards for six Project 636 Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines for $2 billion back in 2009. Under the agreement, signed during Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to Moscow that year, Russia agreed to provide the submarines, train Vietnamese crews, and supply necessary spare parts.

The latest delivery comes amidst simmering disputes in the South China Sea, where both Vietnam and China are claimants alongside the Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Last year, Vietnamese officials said that the first Kilo-class submarine had begun patrolling the South China Sea.

The sixth and final submarine, named HQ-187 Ba Ria-Vung Tau, is expected to arrive in Vietnam in mid-2016. Russia officially launched HQ 187 in September last year in a ceremony attended by the commander of the Russian navy Admiral Viktor Chirkov and his Vietnamese counterpart Rear Admiral Pham Hoai Nam. The two had also reportedly discussed strengthening security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific.

As I reported earlier, the Kilo-class submarines are considered to be one of the quietest diesel submarines in the world, and are designed for anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface-ship warfare. Several analysts, including Carlyle Thayer at The Diplomat, have explored how Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN) may use them to counter Chinese naval capabilities in the South China Sea.

Friday, 12 February, 2016 | 08:54 WIB

Indonesia to Start Producing IFX Jet Fighters in 2020

TEMPO.CO, Bandung - State aircraft company, PT Dirgantara Indonesia, will start producing jet fighters "Indonesian Fighter Xperiment (IFX)" in 2020, its President Director, Budi Santoso, said.

"We will begin producing them in 2020 and continue for the next 20 years," he said here on Thursday.

The aircraft will be produced to meet the Indonesian militarys need for two squadrons of jet fighters and will be sold abroad as well, Budi added.

He said the second phase of cooperation contracts between the Indonesian Defense Ministry and the South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and between PT Dirgantara Indonesia and Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) was signed last January on the basis of starting the production of the planes prototype.

The prototype of the Korean Fighter Xperiment/Indonesian Fighter Xperiment will be produced in South Korea and Indonesia starting this year and until 2019, he said.

He said the prototype of the jet fighters will be produced in South Korea and the rest will be assembled in Indonesia.

The production of the planes will involve numerous Indonesian scientists and technicians for each unit, Budi said.

He added that 300 Indonesians will study and research the production of the KF-X/IF-X jet fighters.

Dunno. Maybe to plate the tyres to resist above small-arms is too heavy. Or maybe the tires are already able to tahan fire. According to some reports even IEDs which immobilised tanks and Bradleys by destroying their tracks could not stop the Stryker which ran on 8 flat tires back to base.

A run-flat tire is a pneumatic vehicle tire that is designed to resist the effects of deflation when punctured, and to enable the vehicle to continue to be driven at reduced speeds (under 3 mph (4.8 km/h)), and for limited distances (up to 10 mi (16 km), depending on the type of tire).

Malaysia To Receive Two MD-530G Light Attack Scout Helicopters End Of Year

KUCHING, Feb 11 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will receive two MD-530G Light Attack Scout Helicopters from McDonnell Douglas at the end of the year.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the latest assets proved the government was serious in strengthening defence in the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) area.

"We have done the best possible in terms of preparation and planning in Sabah. We have two modified oil rigs and we have received the ship Bunga Emas 5 belonging to the Malaysia International Shipping Corporation Bhd (MISC) for sea basing...all these for strengthening defence in ESScom," he said.

He told this to the media after a gathering with Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) personnel at Kem Penrissen here, Thursday.

Also present were Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Wira Mohd Johari Baharum, Defence Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Abd Rahim Mohd Radzi, MAF chief General Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin and Army chief General Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor.

Commenting further, Hishammuddin said, in addition, the ministry had mobilised the 8x8 armoured cars to Tawau, mobilised Hawk fighter jets to Labuan while Sabah would have a new battalion.

"What we have stationed in Sabah also encompass security in Sarawak and Brunei because His Highness (Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei) had presented us with four Blackhawk helicopters. These Blackhawks are going to be armed with Gatling guns and missiles," he said.

-- BERNAMA

Singapore Mulls F-35 and Lots More

by Chris Pocock - February 15, 2016, 12:50 PM

Here at the Singapore Airshow the host nation is poised on a range of defense aircraft purchases which has the OEMs vying for position, displaying their wares.

For example Singapore will soon decide on a replacement for its 30-year old fleet of Super Puma helicopters, but speculation about a purchase of Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft is seemingly premature.

As for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, the island state continues to send mixed signals on when it might commit to the stealth fighter, and which variant it will buy.

In an email interview with AIN, Maj Gen Hoo Cher Moo, commander of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) said that suitable, cost-effective replacements for the Super Pumas are currently being evaluated. Alongside the larger Chinooks, they have featured in some of the RSAF’s humanitarian and disaster relief (HADR) operations. There have been more of these in the past two years than in the preceding four years combined. These included the missing Malaysian Boeing 777 (MH370) and crashed Air Asia Boeing 737; flood relief in Kelantan, Malaysia; earthquake relief in Nepal and Sabah, Malaysia; and fire-fighting in Sumatra, Indonesia.

The RSAF’s Fokker 50s have been providing maritime surveillance since 1995, and have also contributed to the recent HADR operations. “We will continue to operate them for as long as it is operationally and economically feasible,” Moo said. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy deploys ships and P-8 Poseidons to Singapore, from where they have operated close to the islands and reefs in the South China Sea that China is controversially building and claiming.

Referring to those tensions, Moo said that the regional security environment is becoming increasingly complex and challenging. But Singapore’s defense minister, Dr. Ng Eng, told the country’s Parliament last year that, “our defense relations with China are excellent.”

Singapore has been a ‘Security Cooperative Partner’ in the F-35 program since 2003, and sends representatives to the Joint Program Office (JPO) in the U.S. Two years ago, Dr. Ng said the country was “in no particular hurry” to buy the F-35. Moo told AIN that the RSAF was, “in the advanced stages of evaluating the F-35.” But he also said that a final decision would not be made until “we are satisfied that [it] is on track to be operationally capable, and most importantly, is a cost-effective platform.” Amplifying that point, Dr. Ng said last March that, “we do not buy a platform when it is just new. We watch [for] when the price comes down.”   

There has been speculation that Singapore could buy the F-35B STOVL version and operate it from a new ‘Joint Multi-Mission Ship’ that would be built here by ST Marine. Dr. Ng revealed that project in June 2014 as a potential replacement for the Singapore Navy’s four Endurance-class amphibious transport docks, but only as a helicopter carrier. Moo said that, “each of the F-35 variants has its unique strengths that could enhance our operational capability.”

Indonesia Set to Buy Chinooks

by Chris Pocock
February 16, 2016, 1:20 AM


Some 55 years after its first flight, Boeing’s CH-47 heavy-lift helicopter remains in production. If the parties conclude a proposed deal, as many as eight more soon may be going to Indonesia, Boeing’s Jeff Kohler acknowledged yesterday at Singapore Airshow 2016.

Indonesia looks set to become the 24th country to acquire the Boeing CH-47 Chinook. “They have asked the U.S. government for a Letter of Offer, and I’m meeting them here,” said Jeff Kohler, v-p global sales for Boeing Defense, Space & Security yesterday. The number required was still uncertain, he added. Previous media reports about this potential sale have speculated on four to eight helicopters.

Su-35 Fighter Boosted by China and Indonesia Deals

by Reuben F. Johnson - February 17, 2016, 12:05 PM


To date, the Russian air force is the lone customer for Sukhoi’s Su-35. But that could change if Jakarta carries through on a “preliminary” decision.

Russia’s recent breakthrough sales of the Sukhoi Su-35 fighter to both China and Indonesia have provided crucial export sales momentum for United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), and a very welcome production backlog. In November, China signed for 24 or the so-called “4++” generation combat aircraft to be deployed with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Around the same time, Indonesia agreed to buy 12 of the jets. Russia’s air force is already due to get 24 units.

The Su-35s are all produced at UAC’s Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Production Association plant (Knaapo) in Khabarovsk province. The governor of the province, Vyacheslav Shport, himself a former senior manager at Knaapo, told the Russian media that the orders should keep the factory busy for close to 10 years.

The sale to Indonesia was confirmed by chief marshal of aviation Agus Supriatna, who stated that between now and 2019 the country intends to spend $3.1 billion on modernization of its air force. The 12 Su-35s will replace 17 older-generation Northrop F-5s that are currently in service with the air force.

Part of the rationale for procuring the Su-35s was that they are being touted as comparable in capability to the F-16V, the latest, modernized version of the Lockheed Martin fighter, but that they are also a good fit with the older model Su-30MK2 aircraft already in Indonesian service.

China Deal

Negotiations over the $2 billion deal with China had dragged on since at least 2011. A preliminary agreement was reached the following year, but contractual work on financial and technical issues proceeded slowly. Russia suspected that if China bought only a small quantity it would reverse-engineer the Su-35 and produce its own domestic version, as it did with the Su-27SK. For its part, China pushed to have Chinese avionics and mission equipment introduced into a customized version of the warplane. Back in 2004, the Chinese naval air arm took delivery of 24 Su-30MK2 multi-role fighters.

SINGAPORE: Indonesia still keen on AW101

17 February, 2016 BY: Dominic Perry Singapore

Indonesia appears to have rekindled its interest in acquiring AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters, despite a presidential decision late last year to reject an order for VVIP-roled examples.

But Daniele Romiti, chief executive of Finmeccania Helicopters, says Jakarta still has "strong interest in the AW101".

Discussions over a potential purchase are ongoing, he told a media briefing at the Singapore air show.

Indonesia is interested in a combat search and rescue variant of the three-engined rotorcraft, with a similar configuration to the Italian air force's new HH-101 Caesar model.

If the Anglo-Italian manufacturer manages to secure the order, it will be a substantial about-turn for the country. In November 2015 the Indonesian air force indicated a willingness to buy three of the 15.6t AW101s for VVIP transport missions. However, the following month president Joko Widodo axed the deal on cost grounds.

Meanwhile, discussions continue with the administration in the Philippines over the acquisition of two AW159s for its navy under a Ps5.4 billion ($113 million) requirement for anti-submarine warfare helicopters.

The UK-built rotorcraft is Manilla’s preferred candidate for the deal and it is conducting evaluations of the type.

SINGAPORE: Bell sells first 429s to Indonesian police

17 FEBRUARY, 2016 BY: DOMINIC PERRY SINGAPORE

Bell Helicopter has secured a number of firsts at the Singapore show, including the sale of a pair of twin-engined 429s to the Indonesian police.

It marks the start of a fleet renewal process for the country’s law enforcement service, which will require new helicopters for each of its 32 provinces to replace a fleet of aged MBB Bo-105s.

Patrick Moulay, vice-president global sales and marketing, says: “It is a big endorsement for Bell that they have chosen the 429 to kick-off the replacement process.”

There is no guarantee that the 429 will be chosen for the entire requirement, however, with a “step-by-step” acquisition process, conducted as and when budget becomes available. Delivery of the first two helicopters is scheduled for October.

Elsewhere in the region, Bell has also secured a first sale of its developmental 505 light single in the Philippines, with an order for a single example placed by PhilJets. In addition Simrik Air is to acquire the first 407GXP in Nepal.