Indonesia commissions first two of three Bung Tomo-class corvettes

Indonesia's Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro presided over a commissioning ceremony for the Indonesian Navy's (Tentera Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Laut: TNI-AL) first two of three Bung Tomo-class corvettes at Barrow-in-Furness, UK, on 18 July.

The 95 m F 2000 vessels, KRI Bung Tomo and KRI John Lie , were originally built by BAE Systems for the Royal Brunei Navy (RBN) under a contract signed in January 1998. However, after a protracted legal dispute, the ships were laid up and offered for sale by the Bruneian government through an affiliate company of Lürssen. The vessels were subsequently acquired by Indonesia in January 2013.

The Bung Tomo-class vessels are armed with one Oto Melara 76/62 Super Rapid gun, two MSI-Defence 30 mm guns, and two 324 mm triple-tube torpedo launchers. As built, the ships were also provisioned for eight MBDA MM 40 Block 2 Exocet anti-ship missiles and 16 MBDA VL Seawolf point defence missiles; however, neither weapons system was installed. It is understood that, in TNI-AL service, they will receive eight MM 40 Block 3 Exocet missiles, and 16 MBDA VL Mica point defence missiles.

The vessels' sensor suite includes a Thales 4130C1 hull-mounted sonar, a Kelvin Hughes 1007 I-band surface search radar, and a BAE Systems AWS 9 E/F-band air/surface search radar.

The corvettes can achieve a top speed of 30 kt and are designed for a range of 5,000 n miles at 12 kt.

According to the TNI-AL, Bung Tomo and John Lie are currently in transit to Indonesia, where they are scheduled to be put on display at the TNI-AL base in Surabaya as part of an Indonesian National Armed Forces Day celebration event on 5 October. Upon conclusion of the celebrations, the ships are understood by IHS Jane's to be inducted into the TNI-AL's Eastern Fleet where they are expected to assume offshore patrol duties.

The third vessel in class, KRI Usman Harun , was not commissioned at the ceremony but Indonesian media reports on 21 July quoted TNI-AL officials as saying that its personnel are currently on their way to the UK to bring the ship home. No reason was given as to why Usman Harun was not inducted together with its sister ships at the ceremony and it is unclear as to whether a separate commissioning will be held.

COMMENT
The third vessel in the class, which was not commissioned during the ceremony, caused tensions between Singapore and Indonesia in February 2014 after Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs registered concern about the ship's name.

The corvette is named after Osman (Usman) Haji Mohamed Ali and Harun Said, two members of Indonesia's then marine commandos (known today as the Korps Marinir) who were convicted of participating in the 1965 bombing of MacDonald House in Orchard Road, Singapore, which killed three people. The infiltration had been ordered by then President Sukarno, who opposed the formation of Singapore and Malaysia. Both marines were executed in Singapore in 1968.

Although both countries have agreed to maintain good bilateral ties despite the incident, Singapore has indicated that it would not allow Usman Harun into the country's territorial waters and would forbid the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) from participating in any maritime exercises in which the vessel is involved.

It is unclear if the defence minister would similarly preside over Usman Harun 's commissioning at a later date. In the case that he does not, it might signal a deliberate attempt by the Indonesians to keep the vessel's induction inconspicuous so as to not stoke further tensions between the two countries.