April 11, 2017

April 2017 Report to Donors: Indonesian Sub Buys a Puzzle

Indonesia's new sub KRI Nagapasa - with Pennant Number 403.
It is an Improved Chang Bogo (Type 209 variant).
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Hi Donors

I've just emailed Submarine Matters' April 2017 Report: Indonesian Sub Buys a Puzzle out to you, as a WORD attachment. 


Please check your spam bin if you don't see it in your IN box.

Regards

Pete
Director
Submarine Matters International

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Pete

Thailand is going to purchase Chinese submarine [1, 2]. Low price of Chinese submarine is very attractive for Thailand government.

One of the key indices of submarine is submerge depth and modern Chinese submarine shows moderate (test depth of Type 039A submarine is 400m). But, true strength of pressure hull is described by clushing depth not test depth. Clushing depth of submarine is top secret, there is reference ie, that of DSV (Deep-Submergence Vehicle). Clushing depth of DSV may different from that of submarine, but, it may provide country’s point of view on safety margin of hull.

Test depth of Japanese DSV Shinkai 6500 is 6500m (where Shinkai means deep sea, and 6500 suggests test depth) [4] and its clushig depth is designed as 10050m. Test depth of Chinese DSV Jiao Long is 7500m [5]. As safety coefficient of Chinese DSV is said to be 1.1-1.25, clushing depth of Jiao Long is 8250-9375m. According to Chinese standard, we can call Shinkai 6500 as Shinkai 8000. Testing depth of Shinkai 6500 was achieved but that of Jiao Long was not [4, 5]

In Indonesian high speed rail project, Japanese and Chinese sectors anticipated the tender. Indonesian government selected Chinese sectors, because China offered extrordinay low cost. Now, project suffers from significant delay, significant price hike is expected and Indonesian government deeply regrets.

Of course, this story is different from that of submarine purchasing by Thailand. But, you should sometimes think twice when you buy expensive goods.

[1] http://thediplomat.com/2017/04/did-thailand-secretly-approve-its-china-submarine-buy/
“Did Thailand Secretly Approve Its China Submarine Buy?”
[2] http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/thai-government-defends-chinese-submarine-purchase
“Thai government defends Chinese submarine purchase”
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_039A_submarine, see, “General characteristics”
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSV_Shinkai_6500
On August 11, 1989, submerging of 6,527m was achieved.
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaolong_(submersible)
“On June 27, 2012, the Jiaolong with two oceanauts reached a depth of 7,062 meters (23,169 feet) in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean.” Testing depth is not proven.

Regards

Pete said...

Hi Anonymous

Thanks for the analysis and details.

I could turn them into an article on CHINESE INFLUENCE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA in the next 10 days.

Regards

Pete

Anonymous said...

Hi Pete

Yesterday, SK news paper reported the first export of submarine, NAGAPASA [1]. SK is going to deliver another submarine and to transfer submarine tecknology to Indonesia for its first indeginous submarine building. NAGAPASA is Type 209/1400 diesel-electric submarine (SSK) and its general chalacterlitcs are as follows: surfaced displacement 1400 tonnes, submerged displacement 1280 tonnes, length 61.2m, beam 6.25m, draught 5.5m, four MTU 12V492 diesel engines, maximum surfaced range 10000 nautical miles at 10kt, complement 40 [2]. Two 209 HDW versions had already commissioned in 1981 and are still active [3].

[1] http://japanese.joins.com/article/946/231946.html (KOREA JOONGANG DAILY)
Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) delivered its first navy submarine to the Indonesian government Wednesday. This is the first submarine exported by a Korean company.

[2] http://www.janes.com/article/72649/dsme-prepares-to-handover-indonesia-s-first-type-209-1400-submarine-after-initial-delays
(Jane’s 360)

[3] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-Boot-Klasse_209
See Table: Alle U-Boote der Klasse 209 der indonesischen Marine (Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut, TNI–AL)

Regards

Pete said...

Hi Anonymous [at 3/8/17 3:26 AM]

Thanks for the data (noting submerged displacement for the Type 209/1400 is listed as "1,586 t") https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_209_submarine#Technical_specifications. It could be different figures for short and long tons and metric tonnes can cause problems.

I'm wondering if Indonesia's Type 209/1400s are technically more capable than Australia's current Collins? Then again quality of the crew may put the Collins ahead.

Regards

Pete