REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Indonesian Navy plans to buy 10 Russian submarines to strengthen its current fleet which only has two old submarines.
Minister of Defense, Purnomo Yusgiantoro said until next three years, Navy would receive three new submarines in collaboration with South Korea. To accelerate achievement of minimum essential force, Yusgiantoro was also interested to improve cooperation with Russia. Yet, he did not elaborate the purchasing status of the submarines.
"We will send a team to Russia consists of Ministry of Defense, National Military, Air Forces and many more. Admiral Marsetio (Chief of Navy) will be the team leader," Yusgiantoro said recently.
Admiral Marsetio will go to Russia to assess the submarine's compatibility to Indonesian waters. "The submarines must adust to Indonesian geography, including ocean submarines or submarine for archipelago nation. Ideally, Indonesian submarine must compatible based on depth and bed sea ," Marsetio said.