Commission I Of The House Of Representatives Approves The Grant Of The Former PCC Bucheon 773 Ship From South Korea For The Indonesian Navy

The working meeting of Commission I of the DPR with the TNI Commander, Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Finance at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Thursday (6/6/2024). (ANTARA/Bagus Ahmad Rizaldi)

JAKARTA - Commission I of the House of Representatives approved the receipt of a grant of defense and security equipment (palhankam) from South Korea in the form of a unit of the former Bucheon 773 Patrol Combat Corvette (PCC) for the Indonesian Navy.

The approval is one of the points agreed at the DPR Commission I Working Meeting with the TNI Commander, Ministry of Defense, and Ministry of Finance, Thursday, June 6.

"Receipts of grants in the form of one unit of Patrol Combat Corvette (PCC) Ex. ROK (Republic of Korea) Bucheon-773 from the South Korean Government to the Indonesian Navy according to the Letter of the Minister of Defense Number B/2471/M/XII/2023 dated December 19, 2023, concerning: Approval for Acceptance of Alpalhankam Grants from and abroad," said Chairman of Commission I of the House of Representatives Meutya Hafid as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, June 6.

Deputy Minister of Defense Muhammad Herindra said the ship made in 1988 was still docked (improvement) in South Korea. Delivery to Indonesia awaits the ship's structure and engine to be repaired first so that it is in a ready-to-screen condition.

"Only in Indonesia will the weapon system be repaired or the leasing (sensor, wear and command)," he explained.

Herinderat explained that the repair budget for one unit of the ship was around US$35 million or around Rp569.97 billion.

"Initially this grant was three ships, at which time we had budgeted for repairs for the three ships to be 105 million (US dollars) at that time. It turned out that while walking, Korea did not provide three ships, but only one ship, so if one ship is for engine repairs and the transfer is 105 (million US dollars) for three, around 35 million US dollars," he said.

The source of financing for repairs will be budgeted for the Strategic Plan (Renstra) of the Ministry of Defense for 2025-2029.

"Because yesterday the process took a long time so that the 105 million (US dollar) budget has now been diverted for the purchase of FREMM ships from Italy. Later for repairs, this ship (PCC Bucheon 773) will be budgeted through the next strategic plan as much as 35 million US dollars and is already in the book blue at Bappenas," he said.

Herinderat explained that the PCC Bucheon 773 ship has a length of 88.3 meters with a distance of 7,400 kilometers and has a speed of 32 knots, and has an artillery gun armament of 2040 mm.

Commission I of the DPR also approved the receipt of a grant from Brunei Darussalam in the form of 2,618 rounds of 76 mm Naval Gun Oto Melara to the Indonesian Navy, as stated in the Letter of the Minister of Defense Number B/2045/M/X/2023 dated October 30, 2023 regarding: Approval of Alpalhankam Grant Revenue from and Abroad.

In addition to receiving grants, Commission I of the DPR also approved the provision of weapons and ammunition grants in the form of 150 SS2-V5 weapons, 20 G2 Elite pistols, 500,000 Caliber 5.56 mm Munitions, and 500,000 9 mm Caliber Munitions from the Indonesian Ministry of Defense to the Special Forces of the Royal Cambodian Army.

"New weapons and ammunition were produced by PTPindad which came from the procurement of the Ministry of Defense for the 2021 fiscal year with a grant value of Rp. 8,824,758,160," said Herindra.