TSAMTO, February 10. On February 9, a delegation of the French company Naval Group visited the PT PAL Indonesia submarine manufacturing facility in Surabaya (Indonesia).
According to a PT PAL Indonesia press release, the French delegation was headed by Pierre Eric Pommelle, Chief Executive Officer of Naval Group. The French delegation held talks with CEO of PT PAL Indonesia Kaharuddin Jenod and representatives of the Board of Directors of the Indonesian company.
The visit took place as part of the inspection of PT PAL facilities and the determination of the technical capabilities of the shipyard. As reported, the CEO of Naval Group highly appreciated the potential and capabilities of PT PAL in the field of development and construction of submarines.
As already reported by TSAMTO, the Indonesian Defense Ministry has been negotiating with the French side since January last year regarding the acquisition of up to 48 Rafale multifunctional fighters, four Scorpen-class submarines and two Govind-class corvettes. A framework contract for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighters has already been signed.
At the end of January 2022, representatives of the Navy and the Ministry of Defense of Indonesia also held another virtual meeting with the leadership of the German shipbuilding company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) regarding the possible acquisition of German diesel-electric submarines. It was about submarines "Type-209/1400mod" and "Type-214".
A project to supply Jakarta with two Project 636 submarines was also discussed with Russia earlier. However, due to the recent termination of the contract for the supply of 11 Su-35 fighters, it can be assumed with almost 100 percent certainty that the project for the purchase of Russian submarines will not be considered.