Indonesia continues to recruit contracts for "top-end" warships, which it is not known how it will pay. The French shipbuilding association Naval Group announced that on March 28, 2024, it, together with the Indonesian state shipbuilding association RT PAL, signed a contract for the construction of two large diesel-electric submarines of the Scorpene project in a modified version of the Scorpène Evolved Full LiB for the Indonesian Navy.
Image of the large diesel-electric submarine Scorpène Evolved (c) Naval Group
The construction of both submarines will 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. Scorpène Evolved submarines represent the development of the Scorpène family of boats that have been promoted on the market 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 dissatisfied with 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 Ministers of Defense of Indonesia and France, a memorandum of understanding was signed between PT PAL and Naval Group regarding the plan for the purchase and construction of six Scorpene submarines with an air-independent power plant at PT PAL, as well as the supply of weapons, spare parts and training of personnel. In October 2023, Naval Group updated its offer to Indonesia, offering the newest variant called Scorpene Evolved, equipped with a lithium-ion battery. As a result, the contract has now been signed for only two boats so far.
Like all other Indonesian large-scale procurement programs in the field of the Air Force and Navy, this contract is completely dependent on foreign loans. In March, Naval Group entered into a partnership with the General Directorate of the Treasury of the French government to fully finance this program through three sources of loans. These include a credit line from the French bank Banque publique d'investissement and a direct government loan from the General Directorate of the Treasury, which will finance up to 85% of the Indonesian Naval Group contract. The third source of credit should be a private commercial lender, which has yet to be determined. This tranche will finance the remaining 15% of the Naval Group contract and up to 100% of the contract of the Indonesian state-owned shipbuilding company PT PAL.
Work on the first boat is scheduled to begin 14 months after the entry into force of the contract, as soon as the sources of financing are identified and the initial payment is received.
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, in service since 1981.
According to the Naval Group, the Scorpene Evolved boat 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 80 days, a continuous stay underwater for more than 12 days, a crew of 31 people. The boat must be equipped with SUBTICS ASB and have six 533 mm torpedo tubes with 18 weapons.
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The signing by the French shipbuilding association Naval Group together with the Indonesian State Shipbuilding Association RT PAL of a contract for the construction of two large diesel-electric submarines of the Scorpene project for the Indonesian Navy in a modified version of the Scorpène Evolved Full LiB, 03/28/2024 (c) Naval Group
