Navy to buy South Korea subs
Navy to buy South Korea subs
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The question of from where the Navy would purchase two submarines
it plans to acquire in the next 10 years was answered on Thursday
when Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Bernard Kent Sondakh said his
office would get them from South Korea.
Sondakh said the Navy would acquire two submarines type 1300
equipped with dozens of torpedoes from South Korea, with the
first delivery expected in 2008.
According to Sondakh, the submarines, costing about US$270
million each, would strengthen the force, which currently has
only two antiquated submarines to guard the country's vast sea
territory.
The government said earlier that the government planned to buy
two submarines for the Navy but did not explain from where it
would buy the equipment.
Sondakh said Indonesia, as an archipelagic country, should
have at least six submarines, but "due to the state's financial
condition, the Navy has had to prioritize strengthening its
striking force, instead of its fleet of warships".
"In the very near future, we'll have to strengthen our
striking force by purchasing more corvettes and patrol boats,"
Sondakh said.
"But indeed, strengthening our armada is also essential to
warn other countries against violating our sovereignty," the
four-star Navy admiral announced on the sidelines of a one-day
seminar on maritime terrorism at the Navy Staff and Command
School (Seskoal) in South Jakarta.
In comparison, neighboring Singapore has four Swedish-made
submarines, while Malaysia plans to purchase three more
submarines from France.
He did not, however, elaborate as to why the Navy was buying
submarines from South Korea.
In 1994, the country purchased 35 used submarines from Germany
but only two remain operable.
The two submarines are among 117 ships in the Navy's armada,
which comprises 14 warships, 57 patrol boats and 44 support
vessels such as tankers and carriers. Only 30 percent of the
ships, however, are seaworthy.
Sondakh earlier disclosed that the Navy had struck a deal with
South Korea on the purchase of a $35 million personnel landing
dock equipped with medical facilities. The vessel arrived in
Surabaya on Sept. 17.
Indonesian has been forced to seek military equipment from new
sources following the United States' decision to impose a
military embargo on the country following the 1999 post-ballot
violence in East Timor.
Despite strong objection from legislators, the government
recently purchased four Russian-made Sukhoi jet fighters for the
Air Force and two Mi-35 assault helicopters for the Army.
To improve coordination, the Navy also plans to reorganize its
structure by merging its western and eastern fleets and putting
them under the command of one man and renaming it the Republic of
Indonesia fleet.
Sondakh said he was in the process of selecting the right man
to hold the post and expected that the TNI Headquarters would
approve his choice by Dec. 5.
"The commander will be a three-star Navy admiral and his tasks
will focus on the operation of all of the Navy's ships.
"The current structure of the Navy is not efficient because
two commanders in charge of two Navy fleets sometimes have
different policies. What is a priority for the eastern commander
could be just 10th in line for the western commander," Sondakh
said.
The western fleet, which is based in Jakarta, is tasked with
overseeing maritime territory ranging from Tegal in East Java to
the Sabang islands, while the eastern fleet, based in Surabaya,
East Java, is assigned to monitor maritime territory from Tegal
to Merauke in Papua province.
Currently, the two fleets are led by two-star admirals -- Rear
Adm. Mualimin Santoso for the Western Fleet, and Rear Adm. Slamet
Soebianto for the Eastern Fleet.
Sondakh also said that the new fleet commander would oversee
three subordinates in charge of the three sea-lanes that divide
the country into four major zones -- Sumatra; Kalimantan and
Java; Sulawesi and Bawean islands; and Papua islands.