The privately owned shipbuilder Republik Palindo, part of the Republikorp defence industry holding in Indonesia and formerly known as PT Palindo Marine, exhibited a full-sized mock-up of its Stealth Missile Boat in Jakarta.
The 20m-long, high-speed vessel was exhibited at the Indo Defence 2025 show in Jakarta, held from 11-14 June. Although based on a concept done earlier, a representative said the shipbuilder only started designing the vessel at the start of 2025.
Enrico Aryyaguna, Director of Engineering and Planning at Republikorp, told Naval News, “We’re developing it ourselves at the moment. The Indonesian Navy has a requirement to have a missile boat that can operate in littoral waters … [and] we built this to indicate our vision to increase the sovereignty of defence technology in Indonesian hands.”
The Stealth Missile Boat’s primary function is to perform interdictions and missile strikes against surface targets in Indonesian coastal waters, especially to defend the many straits and chokepoints through which foreign vessels transit. Secondary missions include coastal patrolling, reconnaissance, air defence and electronic warfare. When a threat is detected, the concept of operations is for these missile boats to be despatched from ports strategically located around Indonesia.
Aryyaguna elaborated: “Our concept is to work in groups and also to put it into network-centric warfare, so we’re designing the system to be able to communicate with other sensors, with other systems that have longer-range detection and tracking. And then the Stealth Missile Boat will launch its missiles towards the enemy.”
Aryyaguna shared, “We have two options. First, we have a manned option which has five crew, and the other is the unmanned version, where we’re cooperating with Milanion of the UAE.”
Three Indonesian shipbuilders – Republik Palindo, PT PAL and PT Lundin – are individually designing missile craft that can operate as unmanned surface vessels (USV). PT Lundin’s design is known as the X33, for example.
Aryyaguna explained that once a contract is secured from the Indonesian Ministry of Defence, then it will build the first vessel. However, the company was unclear when a contract will eventuate. Nonetheless, after appropriate testing and qualification, the Stealth Missile Boat could then potentially enter series production alongside complementary designs from the other shipbuilders.
Aryyaguna listed armaments comprising a remote weapon station – this could potentially be Aselsan’s STAMP-2L – with a 12.7mm machine gun atop the bridge, as well as missile options. The missiles could be either two canister-launched Roketsan Atmaca anti-ship missiles at the stern, or four Roketsan Çakir cruise missiles that have a 100km range.
Republik Palindo’s trimaran design uses carbon fibre composites that lighten the vessel and give it a lower radar signature. Displacing 43 tonnes, the boat has a beam of 8m and draught of just 1.2m, meaning it can operate in shallow coastal waters. It can accommodate unmanned aerial vehicles on a landing pad on its bow too.
The vessel would have two diesel engines each producing 1,618kW of power to turn its single propeller, plus two auxiliary engines and two surface drive systems. The Stealth Missile Boat is capable of 53kt, and it cruises at a speed of 45kt, according to the shipbuilder.
Also at Indo Defence 2025, Republik Palindo exhibited scale models of the improved KCR-60M fast missile boat. After six KCR-60Ms were built in three batches by PT PAL, Republik Palindo is currently building an improved version in its Batam shipyard.
This newest vessel contains modifications compared to earlier Sampari-class batches. The keel for this KCR-60M was laid on 12 June 2024. At 67.8m in length and with a beam of 9.1m, it is larger than previous vessels, and it is armed with a 76mm naval gun, a pair of dual-canister anti-ship missiles and two 20mm cannons.
The KCR-60M has an S-band surveillance radar, as well as an X-band naval radar. It can reach a top speed of 35kt, whilst its cruising speed is 20kt. Its range is listed as 2,400nm.
In addition, Republik Palindo showcased a scale model of a Future Corvette at the Jakarta show. It illustrates potential directions for multirole combat operations in Indonesia’s coastal waters. Stealthy in form and built from carbon fibre composites, the conceptual trimaran design would displace approximately 6,000 tonnes.
Indicative armaments are eight sets of eight vertical launch system (VLS) cells, as well as eight quadruple anti-ship missile launchers, located behind the bridge superstructure. It would also possess a sonar for anti-submarine warfare. There is a raised helicopter flight deck at the stern but, because of the design, there is no possibility of a hangar.
Republik Palindo stated, “It’s capable of carrying out various missions such as anti-surface, air defence and reconnaissance missions. They are used for coastal defence and patrol missions. Corvettes can escort larger vessels, providing protection against air and missile threats.”
Republik Palindo also showed an aircraft carrier scale model, which uses the Italian Giuseppe Garibaldi as its reference design. There were reports earlier this year that Indonesia is considering procuring this decommissioned Italian Navy carrier. Palindo’s model showed the carrier replete with Turkish TB3 and Akinci UAVs.
Finally, the Italian company Drass shared space on Republikorp Palindo’s booth, exhibiting a compact submarine design called the DGK. Designed for coastal operations, the submarine measures 34m long and 7m high, and it is crewed by just nine personnel.
It can carry special operations troops who enter/exit the boat via a trunk in the sail, and a swimmer delivery vehicle – Drass offers one called the DS8 – can be carried on its aft deck behind the sail.
The DGK has two forward torpedo tubes, and an extra torpedo can be attached each side of the hull if necessary to increase its kinetic payload. It has an X-form rudder, and the 219-tonne submarine can dive to depths of at least 200m. Drass lists its range as 2,000nm or more, and a submerged range of 100+nm at a cruising speed of 5kt. On 17 February 2025, Drass and Republikorp signed a framework agreement to develop the DGK. Sergio Cappelletti Drass’s CEO, said at that time, “This partnership represents a significant step in supporting the Indonesian Navy’s efforts to bolster maritime defence capabilities and strengthen underwater deterrence through the serial production of mid-sized attack submarines.” A main contract between the two parties was due to be signed in mid-2025.
Check out our video coverage of Republikorp at Indo Defence 2025:
