TSAMTO, July 25. On July 23, Naval Group announced the entry into force of a contract for the supply of two Improved Scorpion class submarines in a full lithium-ion configuration to the Indonesian Navy.
The contract for the supply of two submarines was signed in 2024 by Naval Group with the Ministry of National Defense of Indonesia.
According to Jane's Defense Weekly, the entry into force of the contract is a specific feature specific to the Indonesian Ministry of Defense, and usually means that the buyer has fulfilled its obligations to make an advance payment.
As reported by CAMTO, according to the results of the market assessment in 2021, the command of the Indonesian Navy declared the highest compliance with the requirements of the Scorpen-class submarine of the French shipbuilding company Naval Group. In February 2022, the Naval Group signed two memorandums of understanding with the Indonesian company PT PAL, the first of which provided for the division of shares in the potential construction of submarines, and the second was aimed at joint research and development in the field of underwater technologies, including lithium-ion batteries for submarines.
On March 28, 2024, the Indonesian authorities selected Naval Group and the national PT PAL as contractors for the construction of two Scorpene Evolved Full LiB class submarines equipped with lithium-ion batteries for the country's Navy. The contract provides for the construction of a submarine in Indonesia at the PT PAL facility in Surabaya after the transfer of know-how and necessary technologies to the Naval Group.
In a statement announcing the entry into force of the contract, Naval Group said that since its signing, it has been cooperating with the Ministry of Defense of Indonesia and the PT PAL-led consortium in a number of areas, including the design, planning and procurement of products with long production times.
In the coming weeks, PT PAL welders will be invited to France for practical training, and about 50 specialists will be stationed in Indonesia to train more than 400 Indonesian submarine construction engineers.
As part of its commitments, Naval Group signed several memorandums of understanding with Indonesian defense industry enterprises on June 12, 2025, as well as a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) on joint R&D programs in the field of defense marine technologies, and on July 1, 2025, a subsidiary of PT Naval Group was established. Nusantara.
Although the exact delivery dates have not yet been announced, in the absence of problems, the first submarine is expected to be delivered to the customer in the period from 2029 to 2031. Maintenance of the submarines after delivery will be carried out in Indonesia by Indonesian specialists.
The Improved Scorpen submarine supplied by the Indonesian Navy is a modern, low-profile multi-purpose submarine that can be used both in the ocean zone and in shallow waters. It is designed to combat enemy surface ships and submarines, conduct reconnaissance and support special operations forces. The high level of automation allows the NAF to be operated by a limited crew.
The hull length of the submarine is 72 m, displacement is 1600-2000 tons, and the crew is 31 people. The submarine can reach speeds of more than 20 knots underwater. The maximum diving depth is over 300 m, the autonomy is 78 days, and the duration of stay underwater is more than 12 days.
The armament includes six 533-mm torpedo tubes. Up to 18 weapons can be placed on board (Black Shark torpedoes, SM39 Exocet missiles). The NAF is equipped with the latest generation SUBTICS combat control system.
Currently, the Indonesian Navy has one German-built diesel-electric submarine (diesel-electric submarine) of the Chakra class (Type-209/1300), (401) Chakra, and three Nagapasa-class submarines delivered from 2017 to 2021 by South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) (Type-209/1400).
According to Jane's Defense Weekly, in order to temporarily fill the gap in the combat capabilities of the submarine fleet, the command of the Indonesian Navy is trying to obtain an offer from the Chinese company Poly Technologies Inc. for the supply of Yuan-class submarines (Type-039A) from the PLA Navy as part of the Interim Readiness Submarine Class (IRSC) program.
