The Defense Ministry signed a contract Friday with state aircraft
producer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI) to procure three CN-235-220
Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) for the Navy to be delivered in two
years.
The US$80 million contract was signed by PT DI president
director Budi Santoso and the director general of defense facilities at
the ministry Vice Marshal Eris Herryanto at the closing ceremony of a
national workshop to revitalize the Indonesian defense industry.
Attending
the ceremony were Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, State Minister
for State Enterprises Mustafa Abubakar, Indonesian Military (TNI) chief
Gen. Djoko Santoso, and National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Makbul
Padmanegara.
The officials signed a joint agreement on using domestic defense industry products to fulfill TNI and National Police needs.
“We are committed to procure domestic weapon systems,” Purnomo said.
Meanwhile,
Budi said in a media statement that the patrol aircraft had sensors to
carry out surveillance and targeting missions. They are also ready for
future anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
“The three aircraft
are the first batch of six needed to fulfill a Minimum Essential Force
concept while ideally the Navy should have 16 patrol aircraft,” he said.
Navy
chief spokesman Commodore Iskandar Sitompul told The Jakarta Post the
Navy currently was operating three smaller NC-212 MPA, procured from PT
DI in 2007.
The Air Force also operates a CN-235-220 MPA similar to the Navy’s.
When
asked whether there would be overlapping missions between the Navy and
the Air Force, Navy chief of staff Vice Adm. Agus Suhartono said it
was not the case.
“Our aircraft missions are more tactical such
as for firing and acquiring target data [for our warships],” he told
the Post at the sideline of the ceremony.
“Meanwhile, the Air Force missions are more strategic.”
Budi said while both Navy and Air Force versions used French-made Thales systems, they have different specifications.
“The
Navy version is looking downward with its sensors on the belly of the
aircraft while the Air Force version is looking upward with its sensors
in the nose of the aircraft,” he told the Post.
“The Navy version is capable of, tracing small contacts on the sea surface such as the retracted periscope of a submarine, while the Air Force is capable of tracing aircraft.”
Budi said the Air Force’ CN-235-220 MPA
managed to track an Australian P-3C Orion surveillance aircraft well
inside Indonesian territorial waters during a test flight along Java’s
southern coast.
He added another reason to have the French Thales
system for the Navy’s patrol aircraft was so they could communicate
with four Dutch-made SIGMA corvettes which are also using the Thales
system.
PT DI is currently working on four CN-235-110 MPAs for
the South Korean Coast Guard in a contract worth $96 million and is
involved in upgrading Turkish CN-235s for maritime patrol and
anti-submarine warfare roles in a contract worth $30 million.
Meanwhile,
state shipbuilder PT PAL Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) with state oil and gas producer PT Pertamina to design,
construct, maintain and repair vessels.
The MoU was signed by PAL president director Harsusanto and Pertamina president director Karen Agustiawan.
“It is Pertamina’s commitment to develop synergy between state-owned enterprises with a mutual benefits principle,” Karen said.(Original News)
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