VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Defense Ministry and state-run ship builder PT PAL Indonesia have signed a contract to build two fast missile boats of 60-meter class (KCR-60), to support the country`s weaponry system. The ministry`s secretary general Vice Admiral Agus Setiadji said Surabaya, East Java Province, on Monday that the contract to build the fifth and sixth fast missile vessels would include its weapons, including missiles.

"Previously, PT PAL Indonesia had built KCR in stages. First, it build the vessel and then the weaponry," Setiadji stated.

According to Setiadji, the two missile boats will directly function as warships equipped with sensor, weapon, and command system (Sewaco).

"The contract value for one ship is about Rp1.66 trillion, cheaper than the similar order to Europe and South Korea, but still having good quality," he noted.

The project is targeted to be completed in 24 months, as production of some components, such as the ship`s main engine, would take more than 14 months.

Meanwhile, Director of PT PAL Indonesia Budiman Saleh remarked that the fast missile boats would involve 62 private firms in defense industry and four state-run companies, namely weapon manufacturer PT Pindad, engineering company PT Barata Indonesia, steel producer Krakatau Steel, and electronics company PT LEN Industri.  Saleh revealed that the two missile boats will have 19.56 percent of local content, in accordance with the ministry`s requirement of minimum essential force (MEF) in 2015-2019 budget.

The KCR-60 is a developed design from the previous KCR-57.

The project has also involved three world weapon suppliers, namely Bofors (Swedish), MBDA (France), and Terma (Denmark). (ant)