On August 7, 2026, the ceremony of the first steel cutting and the start of construction for the Indonesian Navy of the first of two large diesel-electric submarines of the French Scorpene Evolved project was held at the Indonesian State Shipbuilding Association RT PAL in Surabaya.
On March 28, 2024, the French shipbuilding association Naval Group, together with the Indonesian association RT PAL, signed a contract for the construction of two large Scorpene project submarines in a modified version of the Scorpène Evolved Full LiB for the Indonesian Navy. The construction of both submarines is to be carried out with the participation of the Naval Group at the PT PAL facility in Surabaya. The details of the contract were not disclosed, but according to French media, its value was estimated at $ 2.1 billion. The contract entered into force in August 2025.
The Scorpène Evolved submarines represent the development of the Scorpène family of boats that have been marketed by the Naval Group for a long time. Indonesia became the first customer of the Scorpène Evolved modification and the fifth customer of the Scorpène family as a whole (after Chile, Malaysia, Brazil and India). In accordance with the full name of the Scorpène Evolved Full LiB variant, the boats for Indonesia will be equipped with lithium-ion batteries and will not have an air-independent power plant.
Indonesia has been negotiating the possibility of acquiring Scorpene submarines since 2016, being unhappy with the cooperation with the South Korean corporation Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) to build three diesel-electric submarines of the DSME1400 project (modified German project 209/1200) for the Indonesian fleet. The third boat under contract with DSME in 2011 was built by RT PAL in Surabaya and was commissioned only in 2021.
On June 7, 2021, Indonesia signed an agreement of intent to purchase six Scorpene submarines and a package of weapons for them from France. On February 10, 2022, in the presence of the Defense Ministers of Indonesia and France, a memorandum of understanding was signed between PT PAL and the Naval Group regarding the plan for the purchase and construction of six Scorpene submarines with an air-independent propulsion system at PT PAL, as well as the supply of weapons, spare parts and training personnel. In October 2023, the Naval Group updated its Indonesia offering by offering the newest variant, called the Scorpene Evolved, equipped with a lithium-ion battery. As a result, the contract has been signed so far for only two boats.
Like all other major Indonesian Air Force and Navy procurement programs, this contract is fully dependent on foreign loans and is funded by three sources of loans. These include a credit line from the French bank Banque publique d'investissement and a direct government loan from the French Treasury Department, which will finance up to 85% of the Indonesian Naval Group contract. The third source of the loan is a private commercial lender, which finances the remaining 15% of the Naval Group contract and up to 100% of the RT PAL contract.
According to the plans announced by the Naval Group, when the construction of the lead submarine (symbol SM1) on PT PAL begins in mid-2026, it should be handed over to the Indonesian Navy in 2032. Accordingly, the second SM2 boat, when construction began in 2027, was scheduled to be commissioned in 2033. However, at the ceremony of cutting steel for the lead boat, the Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy, Admiral Muhammad Ali, said that "the construction of this submarine will take 96 months, about eight years."
Indonesia currently has four submarines - three (Nagapasa, Ardadedali and Alugoro) of the South Korean (German) DSME1400 project, commissioned in 2017-2021, and one Cakra of the original German project 209/1300, which has been in service since 1981.
According to published data, the Scorpene Evolved boat designed for Indonesia should have a surface displacement of 1600-2000 tons, a length of 72 m, an underwater speed of more than 20 knots, a diving depth of more than 300 m, autonomy of up to 78 days, a cruising range of up to 18 thousand miles, a continuous stay underwater for more than 12 days, a crew of 31 people. The boat is to be equipped with the SUBTICS automated control system and have six 533-mm torpedo tubes with 18 weapons, including 533-mm Leonardo Black Shark Advanced torpedoes and MBDA Exocet SM39 Block 3 anti-ship missiles. Indonesia will become the third known customer of upgraded Black Shark Advanced torpedoes after the Italian and Indian Navies. In 2019, Indonesia ordered 29 torpedoes of the previous version of the Black Shark for arming submarines of the South Korean (German) DSME1400 project.
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Image of the Scorpene Evolved non-nuclear submarine designed for the Indonesian Navy (c) Naval Group
