Indonesia orders additional BMP-3F and BT-3F from Russia

BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicled of the Indonesian Marines.

The Indonesian Ministry of Defence (MOD) through the Defence Facility Agency signed a contract with Rosoboronexport of Russia last 22 April 2019 for the procurement of BMP-3F amphibious infantry fighting vehicles and BT-3F amphibious armored personnel carriers for the Indonesian Marine Corps (Korps Marinir) under the Minimum Essential Force (MEF) Phase 2 covering 2015 to 2019.

The Indonesian Marines is scheduled to receive 22 new BMP-3F infantry fighting vehicles under a US$108 million contract, and 21 BT-3F armored personnel carriers under a separate US$67.2 million contract. 

The service already operates 54 BMP-3F from 2 previous orders. Meanwhile it is their first time to operate the BT-3F. No specific dates were provided on when Rosoboronexport is required to deliver the products.

It also appears that the funds to finance the procurement will come from foreign loans, most likely from Russia.

The BT-3F is Russia’s latest ampihibious tracked armored personnel carrier from Concern Tractor Plant, and was intended to replace the ageing MT-LB series. It was only unveiled by Russia in 2016, and is based on the BMP-3 platform, which allows commonality to the Indonesian Marines’ BMP-3F fleet. It is armed with a PKTM 7.62mm machine gun mounted on a DPV-T remote weapon station.

The BMP-3F is Indonesian Marines’ foremost armored vehicle, and was also made by Concern Tractor Plant. It is equipped with a 10mm semi-automatic 2A70 gun/missile launcher, a 30mm 2A72 automatic gun, a coaxial PKTM 7.62mm machine gun, and two other bow-mounted PKTM 7.62mm machine guns. The vehicle also has an 81mm smoke grenade launcher for protection.



[1] Kementerian Pertahanan Republik Indonesia
[2] Army Technology – BT3-F
[3] Army Technology – BMP-3F