Indonesia begins construction of second Bung Karno-class indigenous corvette

TNI-AL and shipyard officials during the first steel cutting ceremony. Photo c/o TNI-AL.

Indonesian shipbuilder PT Karimun Anugrah Sejati has reached the First Steel Cutting milestone for the second Bung Karno-class corvette it is constructing for the Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL), with the ceremony held on 25 January 2024 at the shipbuilder’s yard in Batam, Riau Islands.

The Indonesian Navy’s Chief of Logistics Rear Admiral Eko Sunarjanto led the ceremonies together with officials from the Indonesian State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), and PT Karimun Anugrah Sejati, and stressed the importance of the construction of the new corvette in maintaining and securing the country’s sovereignty and interests, and supporting the Indonesian indigenous shipbuilding and defense industries.

It remains to be seen as to what the final fit-out and primary role of the ship would be, as the first ship of the class, the KRI Bung Karno (369), was built as a Presidential Corvette, mixing VVIP facilities, command and control, and limited combat systems for self-defense and offshore patrol missions.

So far, the ship has been built with spaces for Fitted For But Not With (FFBNW) equipment, with no timelines publicly announced on when these capabilities would be installed. The ship is expected to be launched before the end of the year.

It is believed that the ship will be armed with a 76mm main gun, two twin anti-ship missile launchers, and two short-range air defense system (SHORAD) launchers.

The basic Bung Karno-class ship has a crew of 55 officers and seamen, a length of 73 meters, a beam of 12 meters, and displaces at around 650 tonnes.

It is powered by two diesel engines delivering maximum out of 4,000KW, enabling the ship to reach a maximum speed of 24 knots.

It has a helicopter landing deck for a medium-sized naval helicopter or unmanned aerial vehicles, and can carry rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB) for support and ship-boarding operations.

[1] Indonesian Navy

[2] GBP Aerospace and Defence