South Korea signed contract to export submarines to Indonesia.

According to Seoul's state arms procurement agency, on April 12, South Korea signed a contract worth US$ 1 billion to sell three submarines to Indonesia. The deal between the South Korean defence firm Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and the Indonesian government set the building and procurement of three Type 209/1400 Nagapasa-class diesel-electric submarines.

Daewoo and Indonesian officials posing during the launching ceremony of the second Nagapasa-class SSK (Picture Source: Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering)

The vessels will be a follow-on to the country’s Nagapasa class. It is indeed the second such submarine export deal between the two countries, following a 2011 contract worth US$1.08 billion to export three 1,400-ton submarines to the Southeast Asian country. The submarine will accommodate 40 crewmembers and include eight launchers capable of shooting torpedoes, mines and missiles.

For the first vessel under the new contract, which will be the fourth-in-class overall, two of the SSK’s six modules will be constructed by PT PAL in Surabaya, while DSME will build the remaining four in South Korea. The Indonesian-built modules will be shipped to Okpo for assembly. For the second submarine, PT PAL will construct four of the six modules in Surabaya, with DSME constructing the remaining two in Okpo. As with the first vessel, modules that have been constructed in Surabaya by PT PAL will be shipped to South Korea for final assembly. For the third vessel in the contract, PT PAL initially proposed to build the entire submarine.

This announcement comes as Indonesia recently launched the third Nagapasa-class submarine of the first contract. On April 11, Indonesia actually launched its third Type 209/1400 Nagapasa-class (Chang Bogo-class) diesel-electric attack submarine (SSK) for its Navy (Tentara Nasional Indonesia).

The KRI Alugoro (405) SSK had its launching ceremony held at the Indonesian state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL shipyard in Surabaya. It is the first SSK that has been locally assembled at the PT PAL shipyards. Indonesian Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said in a statement that "Not every country can produce submarines". "In the ASEAN region, only Indonesia has been able to do so. We can already make them" he added.