Indonesia’s contract with Naval Group (NG) for the production of two Scorpene Evolved (Evo)s entered into force on July 23, 2025. Both boats will be built at Indonesia’s national shipbuilder PT PAL Surabaya facilities.
This program will soon see the first batch of Indonesian ship welders sent to France for ‘technical instruction’. 50 NG personnel will eventually be stationed at the PT PAL Surabaya facilities to train 400 Indonesian engineers in submarine construction.
According to Pierre Eric Pommellet, Chairman and CEO of NG, this will be a long-term strategic partnership with Indonesia to help establish a sovereign naval industry. Although there was no mention of the duration of the contract or how many boats will ultimately be delivered.
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| A Scorpene Evolved (Image: Naval Group) --- |
Indonesia Business Post.com reports “the submarines will not only be constructed locally, but will also be managed, operated, and maintained entirely by Indonesian personnel, reinforcing Indonesia's long-term naval autonomy.” This project will also create thousands of highly-skilled jobs in Indonesia, especially as NG has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) for "future maritime defense R&D."
According to Indonesia’s Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Muhammad Ali, the first boat could take up to seven or eight years to build. This is because PT PAL has to establish a local supply chain and production facilities, including the installation of a Syncrolift system for shiplift and ship transfer.
Full transfer of Scorpene Technology
NG has also transferred Scorpene technology to India and Brazil, where the ProSub program, initiated in 2009, has delivered three out of four Riachuelo-class SSKs. Brazil's SSN derivative of the Scorpene, the Alvaro Alberto, is set to launch in 2031.
Indonesia is also entering into a Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) with Brazil to develop missile technology (Brazil has developed the Astros II system with a range of 500km) and submarine systems.
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| Image: PT PAL --- |
PT PAL's major shipbuilding facility (above) is located in the city of Surabaya, co-located with the Indonesian Navy's 2nd Fleet Command.
The Surabaya facility is currently building a Makassar-class LPD variant (also see) for the United Arab Emirates Navy, as well as two Merah Putih (Red White) frigates, which are Arrowhead 140 derivatives.
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| image: From Naval News, PT PAL Surabaya facilities --- |
The Scorpene Evolved is an update that provides the Indonesian Navy with the longest range Scorpene variant, using a full Li-ion configuration without an AIP module. Indonesia's Scorpene boats were offered with the Italian developed Black Shark torpedo (already used by Indonesia) the NG F21 torpedoe and MBDA Exocet SM39 SLCMs.
On April 2, 2024 NG published the "Scorpène® Evolved main characteristics" below:
"Surfaced displacement: 1,600 – 2,000 tons ;
Length, overall: 72 m ;
Submerged speed: >20 knots ;
Diving depth: >300 m ;
Autonomy: >78 days on a 80 days mission ;
Submerged autonomy: >12 days ;
Crew: 31 ;
Weapons total payload: 18 ;
Weapon tubes: 6 ;
SUBTICS combat management system ;
Operational availability at sea: >240 days per year."
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| Image: Navalnews --- |
These has been little detailed OSINT information, to date, on Indonesia's future submarine procurement. But the speed PT PAL Indonesia has so far taken at the beginning of this build program is highly indicative of the priority of this project with the Indonesian government. Once the infrastructure and supply chain have been established, there should be further orders.
The Indonesian Navy has a long-term requirement for 12 submarines. This could extend to PT PAL building up to 12 Scorpene Evo boats, including replacements for the single remaining Cakra-class (Type 209-1300) and three newer Nagapasa-class (Type 209-1400) boats now in service. There are also export possibilities to nations, such as the Philippines and Malaysia (which operates two Scorpene SSKs).
8 comments:
Shawn C thanks for this article. I reread it today in light of the other major geopolitical news this week with the Modi - Putin - Xi summit in Shanghai. I think he summit is very significant and it will affect security thinking for all Asian countries for years to come. All Asian countries, including Indonesia, will want more strategic assets of their own, such as submarines, from now on.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-01/narendra-modi-meets-putin-at-shanghai-cooperation-meeting/105722964
In my view future historians will regard the SCO summit in Shanghai as marking the end of the era of US primacy. This does not mean the end of US power. But clearly, Putin, Xi and their follower country leaders were confident that they could meet to plan together believing that the USA under Trump would be either unable or unwilling to counter whatever those plans might be.
Modi’s role is hard to judge, but clearly he doesn’t feel constrained by US pressure after Trump’s tariffs. Those tariffs, or at least the punitive ones on India, now look like a disastrous own goal. The lack of any clear response from the White House was also striking.
Critics of AUKUS have worried that in future the USA might not be willing to back up any security commitments to Australia when it matters. I think we may be reaching that point much sooner than expected. If so, shifting Australian defence budgets from AUKUS to a more independent capability that can be obtained faster and with greater certainty looks a high priority. KSIIis anyone?
In the same vein, in Brazil ..SSN programm
https://caiafa.blogspot.com/2025/08/marinha-do-brasil-e-naval-group-fecham.html
Hi Anonymous at 9/02/2025 6:46 PM
Your final paragraph is a good idea.
There is no way in the set year 2031 that Trump or JD Vance (Democrats would be too weak to win the 2028 US Election) can say in 2031 that the USN will have enough SSNs to face Russia and especially China.
So indeed "shifting Australian defence budgets from AUKUS to a more independent capability that can be obtained faster and with greater certainty looks a high priority. KSS-IIIs anyone?" would be a better new submarine strategy for Australia.
That means KSS-IIIs for Australia, built in South Korea by 2033, of course.
Cheers Pete
Hi Anonymous at 9/03/2025 5:52 AM
Sadly Australia is not as advanced as Brazil in submarine nuclear reactor development. Otherwise Australia's Attack-class submarine deal with Naval Group could have been for 8 to 12 SSNs.
Regards Pete
Thanks for https://caiafa.blogspot.com/2025/08/marinha-do-brasil-e-naval-group-fecham.html which translates from Portuguese (Brazil) to English as:
"Brazilian Navy and Naval Group close deal for nuclear submarine worth 528 million euros"
"The General Directorate of Nuclear and Technological Development of the Brazilian Navy (DGDNTM) signed two important contracts with Naval Group , which together reach 528 million euros , or just over 3.2 billion reais, which will be allocated to the continuation of the program for the development and construction of the [SSN] SNCA Álvaro Alberto .
Naval Group, PROSUB's French strategic partner, will be responsible for providing special engineering services, including industrial solutions, acquisition and construction for the electromechanical assembly of the Controlled Auxiliary Building (PAC) of the Nuclear Power Generation Laboratory (LABGENE).
This is an experimental facility for developing and testing nuclear propulsion for use on the Álvaro Alberto submarine . LABGENE simulates the operation of a nuclear reactor on land, ensuring safety before application on the actual submarine, which is being developed at the Navy Technological Center in São Paulo (CTMSP).
This contract is worth 246 million euros and has a term of 72 months or six years for completion .
The second contract concerns the provision of specialized technical consultancy services for additional systems of the Conventionally Armed Nuclear Submarine (SNCA), lasting 54 months or four and a half years, and valued at 282 million euros.
Published in the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU) on August 28, the extracts show that both contracts were signed on June 4, 2025."
Hi Pete,
I was thinking of an article on Australian alternatives to Virginia, which would mean operating a mix fleet, with SSK coming in the 30s as Collins replacements, then SSN-AUKUS in the 40s.
Reckon Australia could get an excellent deal with the South Koreans, but potentially a better on one with Japan. The next generation of Japanese SSKs should be ready for production by the early 2030s.
https://www.janes.com/osint-insights/defence-news/sea/kawasaki-confirms-contract-for-next-generation-submarine-design-work
https://turdef.com/article/kawasaki-to-design-japan-s-next-generation-submarine-1
Hi Anonymous at 9/04/2025 4:21 PM
I've been writing articles and provided comment about all the issues you raise since 2022.
Australia suffers the industrial handicap that any SSK and most SSN-AUKUSes for the RAN must be built in Osborne, Adelaide. Minimum laid down to commissioned lag is 15 years.
So any SK SSK or Japanese SSK we are talking 2026 + 15 years = 2041 for first one commissioned.
Osborne may be unable to handle simultaneous (slow) builds of an SSK and Australia's first SSN (the SSN-AUKUS).
BAE may be unable to oversee the SSN-AUKUS build in Osborne until (inefficient) BAE has completed its final Dreadnought SSBN build in the UK in about 2040.
Expect the first commissioning of the first SSN-AUKUS built in Osborne to be in 2048 at the earliest.
Cheers Pete
Hi Pete,
Apologies, that was me as Anon @9/04/2025 4:21 PM
I'm speculating that, as Australia seems to have no issues with buying the modified Mogami FFM from MHI, with the first two/three ships from the MHI's Kobe production line, with minimum modifications for Australia, while the production facilities are built up in Henderson, a similar concept could be undertaken by Australia for ordering Japanese submarines, with the next generation design (currently in development), ready for production in around 2030-32.
MHI/KHI yards in Kobe have maintained a metronomic 30-month/boat construction program for the entire Soryu- and Taigei-class (the preceding Oyashio-class took 32 months each), which is 17 boats in 20 years. This means that these yards are operating at maximum efficiency, and expanding their facilities and speeding up their construction process by a few months may enable six Australian boats could be built by the end of the 2030s. These boats could have their hulls, torpedo tubes and propulsion systems fitted in Japan, then shipped to ASC for systems installment.
[Hi Shawn C writing as Anonymous at 9/04/2025 4:21 PM]
"Shawn C I have no argument with your suggestion of the RAN getting Japanese Taigei/Successor SSKs with a first foreign/then local build similar to the Mogamis.
However I question your other suggestion of both Japanese SSKs and then SSN AUKUS. The two subs have virtually nothing in common, and are produced by separate supply chains. Maintenance and crew training would be nightmares. People need to recall that 30 years of sustainment of a sub typically costs 150% of the build cost. So maintenance nightmares should be avoided."
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