Indonesia to build missile warship

Indonesia is building a watchtower missile destroyer to increase the strength of its naval force.

Speaking at a ceremony to start the building of the ship in the port city of Surabaya in East Java province on April 16, Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Marsetio said that the destroyer will be equipped with modern facilities and equipment, including those for undersea war such as torpedoes and helicopter pad.

It is also capable of dealing with air war with air defense missiles, he added.

According to Firmansyah Arifin, General Director of the S tate-owned ship building company PT PAL Indonesia, the ship will be built under the technology from the Netherlands’ Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS) following a contract signed between the company and the Indonesian Ministry of Defence.

The 105-metre long ship is the first out of the two ordered by the Indonesian navy and it is expected to be completed by December 2016.

The destroyer includes six modules with four of them to be produced in Indonesia and the remaining two in the Netherlands.-VNA