TSAMTO, February 11. The state-owned Indonesian shipbuilding company PT PAL Indonesia and the French Naval Group signed a memorandum of understanding on the construction of submarines and research programs in the field of underwater shipbuilding.
According to the Director General of PT PAL Indonesia, Kaharuddin Jenod, the signing of the memorandum was an important event for the two countries and confirmed the active participation of the French government in building up the naval potential of Indonesia.
The memorandum was signed on February 10 at the office of the Ministry of Defense in Jakarta in the presence of Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, CEO and members of the Board of Directors of PAL, French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly, CEO of Naval Group.
Prabowo Subianto confirmed that the ultimate goal of cooperation in the field of submarine development is the acquisition of two Scorpen-class submarines with an air-independent power plant.
As part of the technology transfer agreement, the construction of the Scorpen-class submarine will be fully carried out at the facilities of PT PAL Indonesia in Indonesia with the assistance of Naval Group.
Pierre Eric Pommelle, CEO of Naval Group, welcomed the statement of the Indonesian Defense Minister on cooperation in the field of submarines between PT PAL and Naval Group.
However, as a representative of the Naval Group told Defense News, an official contract has not yet been concluded.
The memorandum was signed a few months after it was announced that Australia was abandoning contracts with an estimated value of up to $90 billion. austr. dollars with Naval Group for the design and construction of 12 non-nuclear Attack submarines. Instead, the Australian Defense Ministry intends to build at least eight nuclear submarines as part of the expanded trilateral security partnership AUKUS with the United States and the United Kingdom.
