On July 2, 2025, the official ceremony of handing over to the Indonesian Navy the frigate Brawijaya (tail number "320"), originally built for the Italian Navy as a Pattugliatore Polivalente d'ALTURA (PPA) type "patrol ship" under the name P 433 Marcantonio Colonna, took place at the shipbuilding enterprise of the Italian Fincantieri Group in Mudgiano (La Spezia). For the Indonesian Navy, Fincantieri now designates these ships, which are essentially large multi-purpose frigates, as Multipurpose Combat Ships (MPCS).
The Indonesian Navy received the frigate Brawijaya (tail number "320"), originally built by the Italian Fincantieri group for the Italian Navy as a Pattugliatore Polivalente d'ALTURA (PPA) type "patrol ship" under the name P 433 Marcantonio Colonna. Mudgiano (La Spezia), 07/02/2025 (c) Indonesian Navy
On March 28, 2024, the Fincantieri Group signed a contract with the Indonesian Ministry of Defense in the amount of 1.18 billion euros for the supply of two MPCS/PPA type ships to the Indonesian Navy. The financing of the acquisition of these ships by Indonesia is organized through a syndicated loan for the specified amount, organized by the French bank BNP Paribas with the participation of Credit Agricole and supported by the Italian insurance and financial institution SACE.
Two PP-type ships in the "Light+" configuration were sold to Indonesia, which were under construction for the Italian Navy at the Fincantieri joint shipyard in Riva Trigoso Mudgiano - P 433 Marcantonio Colonna (at the time of sale, it had been undergoing testing since December 2023) and P 435 Ruggiero di Lauria (it was under completion, began testing in October 2024) - the fourth and sixth ships of the RPA type, built for the Italian navy. On January 29, 2025, both of these ships received new Indonesian names Brawijaya (tail number "320") and Prabu Siliwangi (tail number "321"). The first of them has now been officially handed over to the Indonesian Navy and is scheduled to arrive in Indonesia in September. The transfer of the second Prabu Siliwangi ship to the Indonesian navy is tentatively expected in December 2025.
These two ships (with a total displacement of 6270 tons and a length of 143 m) will become the largest combat units of the Indonesian Navy at the moment and the largest warships of the Indonesian Navy since the Irian cruiser (the former Soviet Ordzhonikidze project 68bis) was deployed in 1961-1973. Both ships were transferred in the "Light+" configuration, however, it is stated that the Indonesian Navy expressed interest in further upgrading them to the "Full" version (that is, with the installation of an additional eight anti-ship missile launchers and two 324-mm three-tube torpedo tubes for anti-submarine torpedoes, and the modernization of the radar complex and electronic warfare systems). It is also reported that the Aster 30 anti-aircraft guided missiles have not yet been purchased by Indonesia and will be purchased separately.
It should be recalled that the construction of six PP-type "patrol ships" for the Italian Navy (the total planned cost of six units is 2.62 billion euros, with an option for four more ships) was provided for in the Law on the Fleet (Legge Navale) adopted by the Italian Parliament at the end of 2014 with a total cost of financing 5.428 billion euros. In addition to the construction of six RPA-type "patrol" ships, this law provided for the construction of the universal amphibious assault ship LHA (Trieste, with a planned cost of 844 million euros), the LLS integrated supply ship (Vulcano, with a planned cost of 325 million euros) and two multipurpose speedboats for the UNPAV special forces (40 million euros, construction implemented by Intermarine).
Contracts for the first six RPA ships and the LLS ship were awarded to Fincantieri with the participation of OCCAR, the European procurement Organization for arms cooperation, on May 7, 2015, and in June 2019, a contract was awarded for the seventh RPA ship. The total value of contracts for seven RPA ships has already amounted to 3.9 billion euros. At the same time, the seven ships are divided into three groups according to configurations - two ships should be of the "Light" series, three - "Light+" and two - "Full".
In fact, after the approval of the Law on the Fleet, the command of the Italian Navy pushed through a significant increase in the size and cost of warships planned for construction under this act. Thus, by the time the UDC Trieste was awarded the contract, it had "grown" from the 20,000 tons of full displacement and 180-190 meters in length declared by the navy during the discussion of the Law a year earlier to 33,000 tons of full displacement and 245 meters in length., html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">having turned into a full-fledged aircraft carrier with the planned deployment of F-35B fighters. The RPA project also made a similar "evolution", "increasing" in the "full" version from 4,500 tons of full displacement and a length of 120 meters to a total displacement of 5,800-6,400 tons and a length of 143 meters (132.5 meters between the perpendiculars), which made it comparable to Italian frigates of the FREMM type (a total displacement of 6,900 tons and a length of 144 meters).
The RPA ships received a powerful combined diesel-gas turbine-electric installation, including two MTU 20V800 M91L diesel engines with a capacity of 13 thousand hp, an Avio Aero/GE Marine Solutions 32 LM2500+G4 afterburner gas turbine with a capacity of 43 thousand hp, four MAN GenSets 12V175D-MEM diesel generators with a capacity of 2200 hp or Isotta Fraschini 16V170C2ME with 2,100 hp, and two electric motors with a capacity of 1,810 hp. The speed under diesel engines should reach 25 knots, and full - up to 32 knots. The cruising range is 5,000 miles at 15 knots.
The electronic armament of the "patrol ship" has also become very impressive, which includes, in the "full" configuration, the Leonardo KRONOS Dual Band dual-band radar system with AFAR (C and X bands), which provides, among other things, missile defense capabilities, and the Leonardo ATAS and Black Snake towed gas (anti-torpedo). The ship's armament includes the SAAM-ESD anti-aircraft missile system with 16 vertical Aster 30 or 64 SAMM-ESD missile launchers, eight Teseo/Otomat Mk 2E Evolutio anti-ship missiles, the 127 mm/64 Leonardo LW artillery system with Vulcano guided weapons system, the 76 mm/62 Leonardo Sovraponte artillery system with the Strales/Davide guided weapons system, two Leonardo KBA 25 mm artillery units, 12.7mm machine guns, six 324 mm and two 533 mm torpedo tubes, anti-torpedo protection systems. Two NH90 or one AW101 helicopters should be permanently stationed in the hangar. In the aft part of the ship there is a ramp with a quick-release 11-meter semi-rigid motor boat, as well as two so-called modular zones with the possibility of accommodating a total of 13 standard containers for reconfigurable payloads. The crew in full configuration should number 173 people.
The lead ship of the PP type for the Italian Navy, the P 430 Paolo Thaon di Revel, has been under construction since December 2016 in the "Light" configuration, and its official laying took place on May 9, 2017. The ship was launched on June 15, 2019, at a high degree of readiness, began sea trials on November 12, 2019, and was commissioned into the Italian Navy on March 18, 2022.
The second PP ship in the P 431 Francesco Morosini series was also built in the "Light" configuration and delivered to the Italian Navy on October 22, 2022. Both ships, built in the "Light" variant, are planned to be upgraded to the "Full" level. The third ship of the RPA type (the first in the "Light+" variant) P 432 Raimondo Montecuccoli was commissioned on September 27, 2023. The fourth and sixth ships (both in the "Light+" variant) P 433 Marcantonio Colonna and P 435 Ruggiero di Lauria were sold to Indonesia. The fifth ship (the first in the "full" version of the "Full") P 434 Giovanni dalle Bande Nere was transferred to the Italian Navy on October 2, 2024. The seventh ship (in the "Full" version), P 436 Domenico Millelire, is currently under completion and is scheduled for delivery in 2026.
On June 25, 2025, the Italian Navy awarded the Fincantieri Group a contract through OCCAR for two additional PP-type ships to replace those sold to Indonesia. Both ships are to be built according to the improved EVO rocket design in the "Light+" configuration and are to be commissioned in 2029-2030.
The first two PP-type ships were built for the Italian Navy in the Light series, with a total displacement of about 5,830 tons. They are equipped with a "stripped-down" KRONOS radar with only X-band AFAR, a less functional air defense system (using only Aster 30 missiles), reduced electronic warfare systems and do not have towed GAS and 324-mm torpedo tubes. The Light+ ships, with a total displacement of 6270 tons, have the KRONOS radar with C-band AFAR only and a full-fledged SAAM-ESD medium-range air defense system. Finally, the ships of the "full" configuration have a total displacement of 6,400 tons and receive the full range of fire and electronic warfare described above, including the KRONOS Dual Band dual-band radar system with AFAR (C and X bands), advanced electronic warfare systems towed by Leonardo ATAS and Black Snake gas, Teseo/Otomat Mk 2E Evolutio anti-ship missiles, anti-missile systems Aster 30 Block 1NT with anti-missile capabilities, 324mm torpedo tubes.
The Italian Navy retains an option for three more PP-type ships (one for each of the "Light", "Light Plus" and "full" versions), and the overall plans for the construction of ships of this type in increasingly improved modifications extended to 16 units by 2035, but it is unclear whether it will be implemented.
Earlier, in June 2021, the Fincantieri association also signed a contract for the construction of six large FREMM-type frigates for the Indonesian Navy. Of these, the construction of three ships is planned to be carried out by Fincantieri in Italy, and three more - according to documentation and with the assistance of Fincantieri at the Indonesian shipbuilding enterprise RT RAL in Surabaya. However, due to the financial problems of the Indonesian side, the implementation of the program has not yet begun.
The ceremony of handing over to the Indonesian Navy the frigate Brawijaya (tail number "320"), originally built by the Italian Fincantieri group for the Italian Navy as a Pattugliatore Polivalente d'ALTURA (PPA) type "patrol ship" under the name P 433 Marcantonio Colonna. Mudgiano (La Spezia), 07/02/2025 (c) Fincantieri and the Indonesian Navy
(c) Fincantieri
