New Indonesian military tank-boat to be used in Papua.

A new tank-like military vessel under development in Indonesia is being targeted for use in provinces including Papua, Radio New Zealand reports.

Antasena tank-boat (Picture source: Youtube)

Production of the Antansena combat vessel began last year by East Java high-tech shipping company PT Lundin. Antara news agency reports the Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu saying the vessels will be complete next year.

He said they are to be used in regions with many rivers and swampy areas such as Papua and Kalimantan. PT Lundin describes the vessel as "a tank in the form of boat", flexible enough to pursue pirates up narrow rivers that can't be accessed by wider bodied patrol boats. The minister said orders for the tank boat have been received from military forces of other countries such as Russia.