Indonesia reaches keel laying for two new offshore patrol vessels

 

Officials during keel laying ceremony of 2 OPVs for TNI-AL. Photo c/o Indonesia MOD.

Indonesian shipbuilder PT Daya Radar Utama has reached a milestone in its contract to build offshore patrol vessels for the Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL) with the keel laying ceremony conducted on 16 November 2022.

The ceremony was held at the shipyard’s facility in Lampung province in Sumatra, with officials from the Indonesian Ministry of Defence (MoD), Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and PT Daya Radar Utama present.

The ships are being constructed under two different projects, one is a 90-meter Offshore Patrol Vessel, while the second ship is called “Offshore Patrol Vessel” with no indication on the actual length but was previously believed to be around 60 meters long.

The First Steel Cutting for both ships was held on 26 August 2021, and is said to be the first attempt by an Indonesian shipyard to locally build a military offshore patrol vessel, which will fill the gap between the Indonesian Navy’s fleet of patrol boats and larger frigates and corvettes.

The 90-meter OPV is expected to follow PT Daya Radar Utama’s previous design releases, which has a length of 90 meters, a width of 13.5 meters, and is powered by four 7,280-kilowatt diesel engines capable of propelling the ship to a maximum speed of around 28 knots.

It is also expected to have a crew of 94 personnel.

Based on design photos and videos from PT Daya Radar Utama, the 90-meter OPV will be armed with a 76mm Oto Melara Super Rapid naval gun, a 35mm Rheinmetall Millennium Gun close-in weapon system (CIWS), and two quadruple launchers for MBDA MM40 Exocet anti-ship missiles.

The weapons are said to be for procurement at a later date, with the OPVs being Fitted for but not with (FFBNW).

It has a helicopter deck and hangar for a naval helicopter, and has two stern ramps for Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIB) for Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) operations.

No details have been made available on the design of the second OPV, but French defense news outlet Naval News mentioned that it could potentially be a 60-meter design, and has a different weapon and sensor fit-out and without a helicopter operations facility.




[1] Indonesian Ministry of Defence
[2] Asia Pacific Defense Journal