Bung Tomo-class corvette

All three corvettes docked at James Fisher Marine Services Barrow, Barrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom
Class overview
Builders: BAE Systems Marine
Operators:  Royal Brunei Navy (former)
 Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL)
Completed: 3
Active: 3
General characteristics
Type:F2000 Corvette
Displacement:1,940 tonnes
Length:89.9 m (295 ft) LWL, 95 m (312 ft) LOA
Beam:12.8 m (42 ft)
Draught:3.6 m (12 ft)
Propulsion:
Speed:30 knots (56 km/h)[1]
Range:5,000 nautical miles (9,000 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)[2]
Complement:79 (room for an additional 24)
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • Ultra Electronics/Radamec Series 2500 electro-optic weapons director.
  • Thales Underwater Systems TMS 4130C1 hull-mounted sonar.
  • BAE Systems Insyte AWS-9 3D E- and F-band air and surface radar.
  • BAE Insyte 1802SW I/J-band radar trackers.
  • Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 navigation radar.
  • Thales Nederland Scout radar for surface search.[2]
  • Thales Sensors Cutlass 242 countermeasures.[2]
Armament:
Aircraft carried:1 x Eurocopter AS565 Panther [4]
Aviation facilities:Flightdeck, no hangar

The Bung Tomo class is a class of three Indonesian corvette offshore patrol vessels. They were originally built for the Royal Brunei Navy and named Nakhoda Ragam class corvettes but were ultimately bought by Indonesia and renamed.[5] The class is named after Bung Tomo, a noted leader of Indonesia's independence movement.

Background

The three vessels were built by BAE Systems Marine (now BAE Systems Maritime - Naval Ships). The contract was awarded to GEC-Marconi in 1995 and the ships, a variant of the F2000 design, were launched in January 2001, June 2001 and June 2002 at the then BAE Systems Marine yard at Scotstoun, Glasgow. The customer refused to accept the vessels and the contract dispute became the subject of arbitration. When the dispute was settled in favour of BAE Systems, the vessels were handed over to Royal Brunei Technical Services in June 2007.[6]

In 2007, Brunei contracted the German Lürssen ship yard to find a new customer for the three ships; in November 2012, it was announced that Indonesia had signed a memorandum of understanding with Britain to acquire the vessels for one-fifth of the original unit cost.[7] The ships are now in service with the Indonesian Navy.

The ships were originally armed with MBDA Exocet Block II anti-ship missiles and MBDA Seawolf air defence missiles. The main gun is an Oto Melara 76mm; the ship also carries two torpedo tubes, two 30mm remote weapon stations and has a landing spot for a helicopter.[8]

Operational history

In late December 2014, KRI Bung Tomo was involved in search and recovery operations of the Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 which crashed off the Java Sea between the islands of Belitung and Borneo.[9] Later in early January 2015, the controversial KRI Usman Harun was being deployed to search for the black boxes as the ship was equipped with the Thales Underwater Systems TMS 4130C1 hull-mounted sonar.[10][11]

Ships of the class

KRI Bung Tomo is named after Sutomo, the leader of Indonesian guerrillas during the Battle of Surabaya. The naming of KRI John Lie memorializes a National Hero of Indonesia who was one of the first high ranking navy commanders during the Indonesian National Revolution. The naming of KRI Usman-Harun memorializes Harun Said and Osman Hj Mohd Ali, who were executed by Singapore after the MacDonald House bombing, creating a controversy between the two nations.[12]

 Number   Pennant Number   Name   Builder   Launched   Commissioned   Status 
1 357 (30) KRI Bung Tomo (ex KDB Jerambak) BAE Systems Marine, Scotstoun 22 June 2002[13] 18 July 2014 [14] Commissioned
2 358 (28) KRI John Lie (ex KDB Nakhoda Ragam) BAE Systems Marine, Scotstoun 13 January 2001[15] 18 July 2014 [14] Commissioned
3 359 (29) KRI Usman-Harun (ex KDB Bendahara Sakam) BAE Systems Marine, Scotstoun 23 June 2001[16] unknown Commissioned

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ruston's RK270 Engines Power Offshore Patrol Vessels". Maritime News. 2001-10-01. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Nakhoda Ragam Class Offshore Patrol Vessels, Brunei". Naval Technology. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
  3. ↑ http://www.tnial.mil.id/tabid/79/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/21446/Default.aspx
  4. ↑ http://www.janes.com/article/44178/indonesian-navy-to-equip-bung-tomo-corvettes-with-panther-asw-helicopters
  5. ↑ http://www.janes.com/article/34420/former-tni-ad-chief-of-staff-calls-for-ban-on-singapore-warships-entering-indonesian-waters
  6. ↑ "Shipyard deadlock ends". September 2007 News (Ships Monthly). September 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  7. ↑ http://defense-studies.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/tiga-kapal-ex-brunei-dibeli-dengan.html
  8. ↑ "Nakhoda Ragam Class Offshore Patrol Vessel". Industry Projects. Naval Technology. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  9. ↑ "KRI Bung Tomo Berhasil Angkat Enam Jenazah Diduga Korban AirAsia QZ8501" (in Indonesian). December 30, 2014.
  10. ↑ http://therealsingapore.com/content/indonesia-deploys-controversial-kri-usman-harun-qz8501-search-site
  11. ↑ http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/indonesia-deploys/1566570.html
  12. ↑ Cheney-Peters, Scott (19 February 2014). "Troubled Waters: Indonesia's Growing Maritime Disputes". thediplomat.com. The Diplomat. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  13. ↑ http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=1650
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Ridzwan Rahmat (23 July 2014). "Indonesia commissions first two of three Bung Tomo-class corvettes". www.janes.com. Jane's Information Group. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  15. ↑ http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=1648
  16. ↑ http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=1649

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