Construction work has started on the first Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) Scorpene submarine at the PT PAL shipyard in Surabaya.
Naval Group said a ceremony marking the major milestone in the Scorpene for the Republic of Indonesia (SRI) programme was held at the shipyard last week.
Indonesia is building two Scorpene Evolved diesel-electric attack submarines domestically, via a consortium between the state-owned shipbuilder and the French defence industry prime.
PT PAL is responsible for construction, equipment integration, final assembly and testing, while Naval Group provides the submarine design, engineering support, capability transfer and ongoing technical support.
The formal acquisition contract was signed between the Indonesian Ministry of Defence, Naval Group, and PT PAL in March 2024; the boats are expected to be delivered to the Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) in 2032-33.
As per a Naval Group statement: “The SRI programme is designed to strengthen Indonesia’s sovereignty at sea and naval defence industrial autonomy… contributing to the consolidation of the national defence industrial base and supporting the creation of thousands of highly skilled, long-term jobs.”
The 72-metre boats will be capable of more than 20 knots submerged and will have an operational range of more than 8,000 nautical miles. They will be capable of up to 12+ days of continuous underwater operations without snorkeling to recharge.
They will feature an ultra-quiet elastically supported MAGTRONIC electric motor for propulsion, and full lithium-ion battery banks.
The submarines will be armed with F21/Black Shark heavyweight torpedoes and SM39/SM40 Exocet anti-ship missiles, fired from six bow-mounted torpedo tubes and controlled via Naval Group’s Subtics combat management system.
- You can read more details about the SRI programme on the Naval Group website
