ITS to help build warships

SURABAYA, East Java: Shipbuilding company PT PAL Indonesia will cooperate with the Surabaya Institute of Technology (ITS) to build Corvet-type warships using technology similar to Stealth aircraft technology.

The plan was disclosed on Tuesday by the institute's rector, Mohammad Nuh, who said a memorandum of understanding on the cooperation would be signed on Nov. 10.

The cooperation was conceived under a Ministry of Defense program, which requires PAL to cooperate with the country's universities to build the warships.

Aside from the institute, the company is also cooperating with the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) and Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta.

"We are just dealing with the ships' design and geometry, while its noise, thermal and electromagnetic characteristics will be handled by the ITB and the UGM," Nuh said. -- JP