Suppose we did take the 30FFM, what kind of system do you think we'll put on the ship? Cause I doubt we'll be using Harpoons anytime soon.
1. For ease of integration, MHI will likely propose a Japanese anti-ship missile, like the Type 12 or Type 17 SSM manufactured by the same Japanese company. I speculate that the Japanese Minister of Defence Nobuo Kishi will propose some form of defence industrial cooperation with Indonesia as an additional sweetener to ensure the export of this older Japanese anti-ship missile technology, a few years after the 30FFM contract is signed with Indonesia; if Japan wins this contract.
2. To retain commonality with existing TNI AL inventory, a MICA NG and Aster 15 combination is possible (if specified by the TNI AL and will lead to delays due to the need for testing); but I strongly suspect the Japanese would be more keen to recommend the ESSM and a SM-2 variant (like Block IIIB) combination; as that is at least more compatible with the Mitsubishi Electric OPY-2 multifuction radar and other sensors (on the 30FFM) than European missile offerings. The 30FFM is equipped with Mk.45 mod.4 5-inch gun and is also given a minesweeping/mine-laying capability. Therefore, it can be inferred that the 30FFM is also useful for island defense. The Mk.45 is ideal for attacking enemies that have landed. Also, in order to land friendly troops, it is necessary to sweep the mines laid by the enemy.
3. As I said before in
another thread at post #25, nothing the country builds will be survivable or sustainable without:
(i) allied air support by partners like the RAAF, the JADF, JMSDF and the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU), as China and Vietnam, as competitors in the South China Sea, are keen to develop their navies at a faster rate than the TNI AL;
(ii) the provision of ISR from MPAs flown by TNI AU, neutrals like Singapore or friendlies like Australia and Japan, supplemented by TNI AL submarines as forward sensors; and
(iii) the TNI AL’s vessels needing to operate in task groups with other capable navies like the RAN and the JMSDF, who will go into harm’s way with the TNI AL.
3. On a 365 day basis, the TNI AL’s frigates and submarines must have the ability to secure Indonesia’s littorals, dispute them, or just as importantly exercise in them in the face of a capable competitor who will contest them —as a shared concern for the RSN. Unlike the RSN, this is capability that the TNI AL does not have. And because the TNI AL is unable to do so, I am waiting for the day when you start to see the Chinese Coast Guard regularly ram Indonesian Navy and law enforcement ships during a time of tension. A TNI AL vessel was rammed by the Vietnamese Coast Guard on 30 April 2019 — that is why Singapore’s 8 Littoral Mission Vessels are fitted for ramming, even if our role is to behave as a neutral in the South China Sea. Let us see how well designed the TNI AL ships are after they are rammed a couple of times by Chinese ships.
4. TNI AL better start thinking clearly about who is a neutral, who is a friendly and who can be an ally at a time of crisis and start building bridges with other more capable navies, accordingly. I wish the TNI AL good luck in sorting out its priorities. The 4 to 9 May 2018, Exercise Komodo held in the waters near Lombok Island, Indonesia is an important step forward for TNI AL in its bridge building efforts.
5. Indonesia’s SIGMA 10514 are cute little ships that I like. The TNI AL just needs 8 to 12 of them by 2045 (instead of 2). The PLA(N) will be able to track TNI AL from space, as they do with American carrier groups — with multiple daily updates of more than 4 times a day. The PLA(N) will get updated on the location of every TNI AL ship on at least a daily basis. The ability of capable network centric navies like the USN, JMSDF, and PLA(N) to track ships from space is a key reason why Singapore gave up on playing hide and seek with our missile gun boats. The new FFG(X) program of the USN is a reflection of American belief that you need a forward screen for a task group.
6. Singapore’s Business Times newspaper reported that Indonesia intends to initially purchase four 30FFM frigates as part of its plan to modernize the country’s military, adding that the agreement comes after a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Oct 2020. The FFM30 is a good platform, if chosen — the TNI AL will need 8 of them by 2035 — to maintain a minimum capability to conduct over the horizon surface warfare with its organic air assets (like ship borne UAVs or helicopters), as a TNI AL task group command vessel, 365 days a year. TNI AL ships need to train in coalition task groups with more capable ships from the JMSDF operating over the horizon or the TNI AL frigates are dead ducks 15 mins after shooting starts.
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