Indonesian shipbuilder PT PAL is stepping up engagement with the Philippine Navy (PN) in efforts to fulfil the service’s capability requirements for sealift, surface combatants, and submarines, an industry official from PT PAL has confirmed to Jane’s .
The official, speaking at the Asian Defence and Security (ADAS) 2018 exhibition in Manila that concluded on 28 September, said that following on from PT PAL’s programme to deliver two Strategic Sealift Vessels (SSVs) to the PN – the second of which was commissioned in May 2017 – the company is negotiating the sale of two additional vessels of the same type.
The official said a contract to supply the two SSVs, which are based on the Makassar-class landing platform dock (LPD) ships in service with the Indonesian Navy that were designed by South Korean shipbuilder Dae Sun, could emerge in 2019 to meet the PN’s requirements to respond to disaster relief and counter-insurgency (COIN)-support requirements. The value of the initial contract was USD92 million.
The PN has also expressed interest in procuring PT PAL’s KCR-60M missile attack craft to also support COIN operations, said the official. Jane’s understands that negotiations over the supply of two initial KCR-60M vessels are continuing and that this could also result in a contract opportunity in 2019. The Indonesian Navy currently operates three 60 m KCR-60Ms, and a fourth is expected to be commissioned soon.
While the programmes to supply the KCR-60M vessel and additional SSVs are regarded as near-term export targets for PT PAL, the possible collaboration on submarines is a longer-term aim, said the official.
In the short term, PT PAL is focused on completing the construction of the Indonesian Navy’s (TNI-AL’s) third Nagapasa (Type 209/1400)-class submarine, developed by South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME). The first two submarines in the programme – built by DSME – have already been handed over to the TNI-AL under a USD1.1 billion contract signed in 2011.
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