Indonesia plans to buy 4 Scorpene submarines and 2 Gowind corvettes.

Recently, the Indonesian Minister of Defense explained to France that his country wanted to arm itself to counter the Chinese threat. According to some sources, Jakarta is interested in buying up to 4 Scorpene submarines and 2 Gowind corvettes.

Indonesia could acquire Scorpene submarine as India and Malaysia did before (Picture source: Indian Navy)

According to concordant sources, Indonesia is interested in purchasing up to four Scorpene submarines armed with Exocet SM39 missile and two 2,500-ton Gowind corvettes (Naval Group). The visit to Paris on Monday of the Minister of Defense of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, an ex-general reputed to be Francophile, was deemed constructive even if we must remain very cautious at this stage.

These purchases could be made through an intergovernmental agreement between France and Indonesia, which wishes to go quickly. For the record, in 10 years, Paris has sold 1.36 billion euros in military equipment to Jakarta, with a peak in 2013 (480 million euros). That year, MBDA had sold a very short-range surface-to-air weapon system (Mistral 3) for more than 200 million euros and Nexter had placed 37 Caesar systems (115 million euros). The three-colour groups can rely on the strategic partnership signed in 2011 between France and Indonesia.

Regarding the Scorpene submarines already sold in India and Malaysia, Indonesia has two French proposals: one relating to the sale of two submarines and the other to the acquisition of four models carried out as part of a technology transfer (ToT) with the Indonesian group PT PAL. A working group has already been set up between Naval Group and the Indonesian Navy.