Indonesia's 6 Modern Submarines by 2026, 12? total by 2035 - Part 1

It was came as a surprise on Friday (April 12, 2019) that Indonesia with DSME had signed a contract for 3 additional submarines by 2026. 

[Please see the revised Indonesian Submarine Table (1959 – 2035) at
https://gentleseas.blogspot.com/2019/04/indonesia-submarine-build-table-revised.html for specifics and links.]

This is on top of the 3 submarines already received (2017, 2018 and KRI Alugoro 405 (launched April 11, 2019)).

All 6 submarines are known as Improved Chang Bogo, Type 209/1400s. All do/will rely on good German engineering via South Korean, DSME, efficiency.

The prospect of Indonesia owning 6 new submarines by 2026 while Australia's 6 Collins age will be making Australia's Navy quietly nervous.

Also, I have been reporting since February 20, 2014 (see that article here) that some Indonesian leaders and admirals are also interested in acquiring an additional 6 submarines, which may be South Korean DSME designed Type 214s (with formidable fuel cell AIP) - all adding up to 12.

If Indonesia has 12 fairly new submarines compared to 6 old Collins BEFORE Australia's first Attack-class sub is commissioned in 2035 - then this may represent a balance of power problem for Australia. 

See the revised Table of April 16, 2019 which takes you from Indonesia's first Whiskey/Tjakra-class (1959) submarine to the final Improved Chang Bogo (or Type 214 submarines) by 2035.

It is significant that experts have predicted Indonesia’s economy will be 3 times the size of Australia’s by 2030.

Pete