Indonesia and the Netherlands have completed the installation and trials of combat systems on a second Indonesian guided missile frigate procured by the Indonesian Navy. The parties involved, Dutch company Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) and its Indonesian partner PT PAL, have also provided training for crew members on the usage and maintenance of the system.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Defense commenced the SIGMA 10514 PKR guided-missile frigate project back in August 2010. The first contract was given to DSNS in December 2012 and the ship was delivered in January 2017. The second contract was signed in February 2013. DSNS appointed Thales to deliver a full mission systems suite for the two frigates.
Multiple combat systems have been installed and tested on the second frigate, KRI Gusti Ngurah Rai (332) . They are VL MICA for defense from threats from the air, Exocet for defense against targets at a greater distance, Torpedo system against offensive submarines, a 35mm rapid-fire cannon and an electronic detection system to divert attacks from the enemy with electromagnetic redirection.
The frigates will be used by the Indonesian Navy for many purposes, including sea patrols in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Indonesia, deterrence, maritime security, search-and-rescue, anti-surface, electronic and anti-air warfare and humanitarian support tasks. Indonesia’s archipelagic geography of 17,500 islands with over 54,000 km of coastline and 6.2 million sq km of maritime EEZ makes it vulnerable to maritime threats.
(Source: Naval Technology)
