Prabowo Reveals Three State-Owned Enterprises Were Almost Sold to Foreign Entities

President Prabowo Subianto has revealed that he previously thwarted attempts by certain parties to sell domestic defence industries to foreign entities, as the state-owned enterprises were deemed incapable of generating significant profits. “Many companies were seemingly about to be sold to foreigners, I forbade it!” President Prabowo said during a speech at the inauguration of five dams in Meninting, West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Friday, 10 July 2026, as quoted by Antara. He stated that there had been plans to sell PT PAL, PT Pindad, and PT Dirgantara Indonesia. “The defence industry was going to be sold. PT PAL was going to be sold, PT Pindad was going to be sold, PT DI was being killed off to be sold. We revived them! Now, we will revive all these companies,” he remarked. Prabowo, who served as Minister of Defence during the second term of President Joko Widodo’s administration from 2019 to 2024, announced that these state-owned defence companies have now grown and developed rapidly. “PT PAL can now build formidable warships. PT PAL can now build submarines. PT PAL will build advanced ships,” he said. Furthermore, Prabowo noted that Pindad has recently secured a contract from Saudi Arabia. “All rifles and machine guns for the Saudi Arabian army will be built by PT Pindad. Our weapons are proven,” he stated. Since 2022, several state-owned enterprises in the defence industry have been consolidated under the holding company Defend ID. The five companies within Defend ID are PT Len Industri as the parent company, along with PT PAL, PT Dirgantara Indonesia, PT Pindad, and PT Dahana. PT PAL Indonesia, the nation’s largest shipyard based in Surabaya, East Java, has produced various types of vessels, including warships and hospital ships for domestic needs and export. The company has previously built a submarine at its Surabaya facility in cooperation with South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, namely KRI Alugoro-405. In early July 2026, PT PAL also commenced the physical construction of two Scorpene submarines in collaboration with Naval Group. The two companies initiated the first steel cutting ceremony this month. The Scorpene is an advanced submarine from France’s Naval Group ordered by Indonesia, and both units will be built entirely at PT PAL’s shipyard in Surabaya.