Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto Hands Over 2 Domestically-Produced Tank Transport Ships To The Indonesian Navy

Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto when handing over two domestically made tank transporters to the Indonesian Navy / PHOTO: Public Relations Bureau of the Secretariat General of the Ministry of Defense

JAKARTA - Minister of Defense, Prabowo Subianto, handed over warships of the AT-8 and AT-9 Tank Transport types to the Indonesian Navy. The two ships were produced by PT Bandar Abadi (Ship Builders and Dry-Dock), which is the domestic defense industry.

The delivery of this ship was carried out at the PT Bandar Abadi Batam Shipyard today.

In his remarks, Prabowo said the surrender was carried out because a strong Indonesian Navy was needed to uphold the country's sovereignty.

"We need a guard, namely the Indonesian Navy who is strong to fly the red and white and uphold the sovereignty of the country", said the former Kopassus General Commander in his written statement, Tuesday, October 26.

Not only that, the procurement of the ship is one of the efforts to meet the target of Minimum Essential Force (MEF) III until 2024 while carrying out the direction of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to build the defense industry in the country.

With this ship, it is hoped that it will fulfill the government's efforts to encourage the independence of the domestic defense industry while reducing dependence on the foreign defense industry, especially in terms of procuring warships.

After being handed over, the two ships were named KRI Teluk Weda-526 and KRI Teluk Wondama-527. He explained that the name KRI Teluk Weda-526 was taken from the name of a bay in Central Halmahera, Central Weda District, North Maluku which is famous for its beautiful underwater park complete with abundant fish life, one of which is the Rare Foot Shark species.

While the name KRI Teluk Wondama-527 is taken from the name of the bay in the Bird's Head area of Papua Island which is considered a floating paradise because of its natural beauty next to Raja Ampat.

As for the specifications, the two ships have an overall length (LOA) of 117 meters, a width of 16.40 meters, a height of 7.80 meters with a maximum speed of 16 knots. This ship also has an endurance of 20 days and is manned by a crew of 111 people.

In addition, these two tank kinds of transport are capable of carrying 367 troops, 15 units of BMP-3F Tanks, and one helicopter unit. The shipbuilding process was carried out for 25 months or five months faster than the initial target of 30 months.

During the event, Defense Minister Prabowo together with Kasal Admiral TNI Yudo Margono, and several representatives of Commission I of House of Representatives witnessed the signing of the minutes by the Director of PT. Bandar Abadi Maslina Simanjuntak, Head of the Defense Facilities Agency of the Ministry of Defense Marsda TNI Yusuf Jauhari, M.Eng., Aslog of TNI Commander Marsda TNI Sujatmiko GS, M.Sc., Aslog of Kasal Admiral TNI Puguh Santoso SE., MM., and Pangkoarmada III Admiral TNI Irvansyah, SH, CHRMP., M.Tr.Opsla.