KRI Alugoro is the third Nagapasa-class submarine (also known as the DSME 1400 design or Improved Chang Bogo-class) and the first one built locally in Indonesia (and the first submarine ever built in South East Asia).
During the Submarine handover ceremony, Indonesian Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto in his remarks appreciated this as a historical milestone: For the first time a shipyard owned by a national company, PT PAL, succeeded in a submarine production project.
“We realize together how important our defense is. We are building our defense capabilities. Not because we want to be brave. Not because we want to threaten anyone. Over and over again, it has been passed down from the founder of our nation, we have emphasized that the Indonesian nation loves peace but loves independence more, “
Indoensian Defense Minister Prabowo.
In front of all invited guests, the Minister of Defense said that Indonesia must have sufficient strength to maintain sovereignty and protect its territorial integrity from the threat of foreign armies. “Today is a step forward for all of us to build our army in an even stronger direction,” he added.
Through strategic planning regarding the modernization of defense equipment, Minister of Defense Prabowo, in accordance with President Jokowi’s mandate, has ordered that the entire domestic defense industry must be included in the process of modernizing all state defense equipment.
“The successful delivery of Indonesian submarine No. 3 is a feat that Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, PT.PAL shipyard, and the ROK Navy and Indonesian Navy united together.” In line with this, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering will support PT.PAL shipyards with the ability to independently build submarines, and will establish partnerships with technology transfer and cooperation, which are the most important elements for the further submarine 2nd project. I look forward to continuing.”
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Vice President Park Doo-seon
About Nagapasa-class submarines
The first two submarines of the class were built in South Korea: Nagapasa (403) launch ceremony took place in on March 24, 2016. The submarine arrived in Indonesia on August 28, 2017. The second boat Ardadedali (404) was launched on October 24, 2016 and transferred to the Indonesian Navy on April 25, 2018, arriving in Indonesia in June 2018. Indonesian state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL launched Alugoro, the first diesel-electric submarine built in Indonesia, on April 11, 2019 in Surabaya. One day later (April 12), Indonesia signed a US$1.02 billion contract for the procurement of three more 1,400-ton submarines (DSME 1400 type) from DSME.
For the record, following an international tender, DSME signed on December 20, 2011 a contract worth $ 1.1 billion to build three DSME 1400 submarines for the Indonesian fleet. They are an evolution of the German Type 209/1200 which was built for the Republic of Korea Navy in the 1980-1990 years (Chang Bogo-class).
The DSME 1400 project is an upgrade of the built-under-license Type 209/1200 with increased length (up to 61.2 m) and displacement (about 1,400 tons underwater). Under the terms of the contract, the first two boats for Indonesia were to be built by DSME in South Korea with delivery in 2016–2017, and the third submarine was to be built locally (actually assembled from sections) by PT PAL with technical assistance from South Korea with planned completion in 2018.
According to TNI AL, Alugoro has a length of 61.3 meters with a speed of ± 21 knots below the surface of the water, capable of sailing more than 50 days and can accommodate more than 40 crew members plus a team of elite Navy forces to support its operational functions. The names comes from a holy weapon owned by the puppet character Prabu Baladewa. The weapon is a mace used by knights that could crush heads with just one hit.
