Indonesia inked a deal with Turkish shipbuilding group TAIS for the procurement of two I-class (Istif-class / Istanbul-class) frigates for the Indonesian Navy (TNI AL). The deal was signed on 26 July 2025 during the IDEF defense exhibition in Istanbul.
The deal was first announced by the Turkish Secretariat of Defence Industries (SSB) on social media:
At IDEF 2025, with the participation of President of Defence Industries Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün, TAIS Shipyards signed contracts with Indonesia’s Ministry of Defence for two MİLGEM Istiif-class frigates.
This marks Türkiye’s first export of MİLGEM-class vessels to Indonesia and represents a significant milestone in strategic naval cooperation, bringing pride to our nations. We hope this collaboration, embodying the shared maritime defense vision of two allied nations, will be beneficial for all parties involved.
Pictures show that the head of Indonesian MoD’s Defense Facilities Agency, Air Marshall Yusuf Jauhari and Indonesia’s Defense Minister, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin took part in the signing ceremony. The CEOs of Indonesia’s national shipbuidler PT PAL and the CEO of Turkish shipbuilding group TAIS were also present.
Details of the deal signed today are not available. For the record, PT PAL and TAIS inked a MoU regarding I-class frigates last month, during Indodefence 2025 in Jakarta. However it is possible that the ships to be delivered to Indonesia are already in production in Turkyie: Instead of being delivered to the Turkish Navy, they would be transferred to TNI AL directly, in a similar fashion to what Fincantieri did with two PPA vessels initially set to be delivered to the Italian Navy. This allows for a quick delivery to the customer but creates delays in the renewal of the fleet for the navy of the selling country.
About I-class frigates
The Turkish I-class Frigate Program was launched to construct four frigates to replace aging YAVUZ-class Frigates of the Turkish Navy in the mid-2020s. Developed under the MILGEM indigenous warship program, the Istanbul class is an enlarged variant of the Ada-class anti-submarine corvette. The I-class Frigates have around 50% increased fuel capacity and operational/sailing range capability compared to Ada-class Corvettes.
The frigate was developed for anti-submarine and surface warfare, air warfare, reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, identification, detection and early warning. It is 113 meters long and has a beam of 14.4 meters. The TCG İSTANBUL was built at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard and equipped with advanced national solutions, including the ATMACA Anti-Ship Missile and MİDLAS Vertical Launch System (VLS) developed by Roketsan, the Gökdeniz Close-In Air Weapon System and Cenk-S AESA Radar developed by ASELSAN, and the ADVENT Combat Management System developed by HAVELSAN under the direction of Naval Forces Command. A total of 220 companies participated in the project, including 80 subcontractors working on the delivery of more than 150 systems.
Works on the construction of the sixth, seventh and eighth MİLGEM I Class Platforms for the Turkish Navy, which will be sister ships to TCG İSTANBUL, Türkiye’s first national frigate, were launched in partnership with STM and TAİS in 2023.
I-class frigate specifications:
| Length Overall | : 113.2 meters |
| Length Waterline | : 105.2 meters |
| Beam Max | : 14.4 meters |
| Draught | : 4.05 meters |
| Displacement | : 3000 tons |
| Maximum Speed | : 29+ knots |
| Cruise Speed | : 14 knots |
| Endurance | : 5700 Nm at 14 knots |
| Main Propulsion | : CODAG (2xMTU Diesel engines + 1xLM2500 gas turbine) 2x shafts and CPP propellers |
| Power Generation | : 4 x 560kw diesel generator |
| CMS | : HAVELSAN ADVENT |
| Sensor Suit | : – 3D radar (Probably Aselsan CENK-S AESA) – Navigation radar (Probably Aselsan ALPER-P LPI) – Fire Control Radars (2xAKR-D Fire Control radars) – EO Systems (Probably ASELFLIR-300T, PIRI KATS, and AHTAPOT) – FERSAH hull-mounted sonar – HIZIR Torpedo Countermeasures System – Laser warning system – ASELSAN ARES family ESM/ECM |
| Weapons | : – 16-cell MIDLAS indigenous VLS for launching HISAR family of surface-to-air missiles – 4×4 ATMACA anti-ship missiles – Aselsan Gokdeniz CIWS – 76 mm Super Rapid Gun – 2 x 25 mm Aselsan STOP machine gun – 2×3 Lightweight torpedo (MK-46 Mod 5 / Roketsan ORKA) |
Future TNI AL fleet composition
In the near future, the new major units of the TNI AL fleet will consists in several classes of modern ships of various origin (but each class featuring a couple of units each):
- 2x PKR frigates (design from Damen / the Netherlands)
- 1x 62-meter trimaran fast attack craft (KRI Golok, a local design by North Sea Boats)
- 2x Merah Putih (design from Babcock / UK, but built locally, with a lot of Turkish systems aboard)
- 2x PPA (design from Fincantieri / Italy)
- 2x I-class frigates (design from Turkiye)
- 2x KCR-70M (Turkish design)
- ?x KCR-60M (various designs from various local shipbuilders)
In addition, TNI AL will operate submarines from South Korea and France and is considering the procurement of a (used) aircraft carrier from Italy.
While such variety presents some advantages, it can also represent a true challenge in terms of training and logistics / support.
