President Jokowi Emphasizes The Importance Of Building A Fleet For Domestic Submarines

Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy (KSAL) Admiral Muhammad Ali/ANTARA/Rangga Pandu Asmara Jingga

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) conveyed directions to the Indonesian Navy regarding the importance of building defense equipment, especially the submarine fleet, domestically.

This was conveyed by the Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy (KSAL) Admiral TNI Muhammad Ali after the agenda for embedding the Honorary Brevet of the Kencana Shark to President Jokowi at the Military Cross-Navy Command Headquarters, North Jakarta, Saturday, September 28.

"The direction of the President always prioritizes the construction of the ships in the country," he said as quoted by ANTARA.

Although plans for the procurement of submarines from France emerged, Muhammad Ali emphasized that there would be cooperation with PT PAL as a state-owned company engaged in the maritime and energy industry, especially for the production of Indonesian ships and defense equipment, to develop this project.

"This is a joint venture between Naval Group and PT PAL to build the latest Scorpèneclass submarines with advanced propulsion and weaponry technology," he said.

This collaboration is expected by KSAL to strengthen the capabilities of the Indonesian Navy and support the independence of the national defense industry.

"The class of Scorpènewas is already evolved, the latest, the last-outer, which is quite sophisticated in terms of propulsion and from weaponry," he explained.