Showing posts with label KRI Usman-Harun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KRI Usman-Harun. Show all posts

Saturday 23 May 2015

IMDEX 2015 : Singapore Navy's Type 218SG Submarine Unveiled!

the latest on the Type 218SG here

TKMS / HDW Type 218SG at IMDEX 2015

The Republic of Singapore Navy's ( RSN ) newest submarine on order, the Type 218SG, designed and built by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmBH (HDW), subsidiary of the German shipbuilding conglomerate ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems GmBH ( TKMS ), was finally unveiled at the recently concluded IMDEX Asia 2015 in Singapore.

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IMDEX ( International Maritime Defence Exhibition ) is a maritime defence exhibition for trade professionals and is not open to the public. It is held once every two years at the Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore showcasing mostly naval related stuff including ordnance, vessels and ship systems, coupled with conferences on maritime safety and co-operation, technology seminars, high-level networking events and naval war-gaming. The biennial IMDEX was first organized in 1997 and this year marks its 10th edition. It is touted by its organisers as " Asia Pacific's only dedicated maritime defence event, serving the world's second largest naval market and beyond ".

150519-N-ZZ786-134 SINGAPORE (May 19, 2015) Cmdr. Joseph Torres, commanding officer of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin (DDG 89), walks with Singapore Minister of Defence Dr. Ng Eng Hen and RSN Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Lai Chung Han aboard the ship during a tour. Mustin is participating in Singapore's International Maritime Defense Exhibition along with the littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3). U.S. Navy photo

Statistics from IMDEX 2013 showed that there were 9337 trade visitors from 61 different countries, including 21 chiefs of navy and coast guard from around the world. 194 companies from 29 countries participated in the show as exhibitors and 15 warships from 9 countries also came visiting Singapore and were part of the other highlight of every IMDEX - the warship display held separately at RSN's Changi Naval Base ( CNB ).

Networking at IMDEX. 150521-N-YU572-108 SINGAPORE (May 21, 2015) Rear Adm. Charlie Williams, commander of Task Force 73, speaks with Royal Swedish Navy Chief of Naval Staff Rear Adm. Jan Thornnquist during a courtesy call. U.S. Navy photo

All eyes must have been on the ThyssenKrupp Marine System's exhibition booth because this is probably the first time since the official announcement of the submarine deal by MINDEF in Dec 2013 that a scale model of the Type 218SG were to be put on public display.

The report from the local newspaper The Straits Times on 20th May 2015 carried with it a not so great rear view image of the submarine model on display. RSN's Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Lai Chung Han revealed that the Type 218SG would have a displacement of 2000 tonnes with a length of 70m and a width of 6.3m. It would have a total of 8 torpedo tubes. That would be two more than the Type 212 which has six tubes. However there was no mention of whether the eight tubes are all forward facing or if some might be facing aft. As expected of a non-military publication, don't ask if that 2000 tonnes  refer to surfaced or submerged displacement. RADM Lai also disclosed that the construction of the first boat is ongoing and that construction of the second boat starts next month.

Unfortunately that was all that was made public by the news article. So my previous estimate of 2500 to 3000 tonnes was a little off. But 2000 tonnes for a conventional diesel-electric submarine, albeit with air-independent propulsion, is still considered a very good size. Bear in mind that the Type 212s and 214s only weigh in at about 1800 tonnes. RSN probably took into consideration the congested nature of the home waters and the relative shallowness of the South China Sea, its most likely area of operations, and decided on that tonnage. In time to come, the Type 218SG would no doubt be deployed further afield, like to Guam or Oahu for the RIMPAC exercises, and that increased tonnage and therefore increased range and endurance would definitely come in handy.



A photo of the Straits Times article on the IMDEX and the Type 218SG submarine on 20th May 2015. Photo : Author
 

 

 

The IMDEX 2015 Warship Display



The IMDEX 2015 Warship Display at Changi Naval Base, Singapore (May 20, 2015) The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin (DDG 89) ( at the extreme right ) is pier side with ships from the Indian navy, Republic of Korea navy, and People's Liberation Army Navy. U.S. Navy photo

This year's IMDEX Warship Display at CNB had 20 foreign warships from 13 countries. It goes without saying that RSN, being the host country, would also have put its naval assets on display, like the indigenously designed and constructed Endurance class Landing Platform Dock and the MV Shift Rescue Submarine Support and Rescue Vessel.

MV Shift Rescue Submarine Support and Rescue Vessel. Photo : ST Marine


The warships from other countries include the USN's Freedom class Littoral Combat Ship USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) and the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Mustin (DDG-89), Royal Australian Navy's ANZAC class frigate HMAS Perth (FFH-157), Royal Brunei Navy's Darussalam Class Patrol Vessel KDB Daruttaqwa (PV-09), the Indian Navy's Kamorta class frigate INS Kamorta (P-28), Royal Malaysian Navy's Kasturi class corvette KD Lekir (FF-26 ), the People's Liberation Army Navy's Jiangkai II class ( Type 054A ) guided missile frigate CNS Yulin (FFG-569), Indonesia's Bung Tomo class corvette KRI John Lie and ships from South Korea, Thailand, Sri Lanka etc.
      

The littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) operates in the Java Sea while supporting the Indonesian-led search effort for AirAsia flight QZ8501 14th Jan 2015. U.S. Navy photo
 A S-70B Sea Hawk helicopter approaches the Royal Australian Navy Anzac-class frigate HMAS Perth (FFH 157) while conducting a vertical replenishment with the Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Yukon (T-AO 202) in the Pacific Ocean during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2012. US Navy Photo.

Royal Brunei Navy Darussalam-class offshore patrol vessel KDB Darulaman (PV 08) conduct maneuvering exercises with the Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60),in the South China Sea during Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Brunei 2014. U.S. Navy photo

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (Navy) Jiangkai II ( type 054A ) guided missile frigate Yi Yang (FFG-548) transits the Gulf of Aden prior to conducting a bilateral counter-piracy exercise with the USN 17 Sep 2012. U.S. Navy Photo
The Royal Malaysian Navy frigate KD Lekir (FF 26) leads the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) during a passing exercise in the Strait of Malacca 26th Jan 2011. U.S. Navy photo

INS Kamorta, first of four ASW stealth frigates of the Indian Navy. Source : Wikipedia
Indonesian Navy's Bung Tomo class corvette KRI John Lie. Photo : IMDEX

Note that the sister ship of the KRI John Lie, the KRI Usman-Harun had been banned from entering Singapore waters as it was named after two Indonesian terrorists who carried out the bombing of a commercial building in Singapore back in 1965 resulting in three civilian deaths and numerous injured. I believe the entire Bung Tomo class should be banned from Singapore as just the sight of one of them would remind Singaporeans of the other two, including the ship named after the terrorists. They all look similar and honestly I cannot tell the difference between the ships if not for the pennant numbers displayed. It is funny Big Brother had nothing better than a 15 year old pre-owned corvette to send for display at a premier naval exhibition. Maybe the rest of the TNI-AL fleet is too busy blowing up illegal fishing vessels to attend IMDEX. What a shame. Try harder next time, Dodo Boy.

Some of the warships would conclude the IMDEX 2015 by participating in 5th Western Pacific Naval Symposium Multi-lateral Sea Exercise (WMSX).

I certainly hope we would not have to wait two years before more information on the Type 218SG would be revealed. For additional information you can read my earlier post " Singapore Navy's New Submarines - HDW Type 218SG ".



























Saturday 1 March 2014

Discount Frigates For Small People with Hare Brains : The KRI Usman-Harun Saga




KRI John Lie, sister ship of the KRI Usman-Harun, participating in a combined gunnery
exercise with the USN during CARAT Indonesia 2015. US Navy Photo



 
Brunei's KDB Nakhoda Ragam on the River Clyde on 14th Jul 2007.
It would ultimately be sold to Indonesia and renamed KRI John Lie. Wikicommons



A Cursed Class Of Warship?



Indonesia's recent purchase of 3 Yarrow F2000 class light frigates from Brunei and the subsequent decision to name the third of class the KRI Usman-Harun ( MMSI 525014076 ) triggered off an unfortunate and unnecessary diplomatic incident with neighbouring Singapore. The 3 frigates were constructed for Brunei but were rejected and never commissioned. They were sold to Indonesia after languishing at a British dock for several years. The 2 men whom the frigate was named after were navy marines who were ordered to infiltrate into Singapore to carry out bombings and sabotage against civilian targets during then President Sukarno's Confrontation with the newly formed Malaysia ( which Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak were also part of ). The duo carried out the bombing of the MacDonald House in Orchard Road which killed 3 civilians and injured 33 others on 10th Mar 1965. They were eventually apprehended and tried in court and sentenced to death by hanging. They were branded as terrorists in Singapore but were considered national heroes back home in Indonesia. Now that Indonesia has insisted it will not back down and rename the ship, Singapore has banned the ship from her territorial waters and from calling at her ports and naval bases. Singapore naval ships will also not sail with or participate in military exercises with this ship.


The Yarrow F2000 Frigate





Royal Malaysian Navy's light frigate KD Lekiu, a typical F2000 based warship
with the Bofors 57mm main gun, MM-40 Exocet SSM and
an aft helicopter deck. Source : Wikipedia

Some might classify this class of warship as a corvette, displacing about 2000 tons. They were designed by Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited of Glasgow, now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships. A rather popular choice for the navies of South East Asia I must say, Malaysia's KD Lekiu and KD Jebat launched in 1994 and 1995 respectively are based on the F2000 light frigate design. At around the same time in 1995, Brunei, an oil and gas rich tiny sultanate in northern Borneo also contracted YSL to build 3 large offshore patrol vessels (OPV) based on the F2000. They were to be known as the Nakhoda Ragam class OPV, named after a legendary Malay seafarer.



The Nakhoda Ragam Class OPV



These OPVs were a state of the art variant of the Yarrow F2000 frigate built to the Sultan of Brunei's specifications, highly automated to allow for a compliment of only 79 men to operated. Displacing 1940 tonnes, they were also specially tailored to cater for the shorter statue of Bruneian sailors ( relative to Europeans ). The first and second of class, the KDB Nakhoda Ragam and the KDB Bandahara Sakam, were launched in Jan and June 2001 while the last ship KDB Jarambak was launched in June the following year. When they were completed and ready for delivery in 2004, Brunei insisted that they were not built to specifications and rejected them, even refusing to pay. The matter was eventually brought to the International Court of Arbitration and the ruling was in favour of BAE Systems the shipbuilders. Ownership was ultimately transferred to Brunei in 2007 but the Royal Brunei Navy had absolutely no plans to commission them. Instead, they contracted the German shipbuilder Lurssen to build the replacement corvettes and to find a buyer for these orphaned ships. As they were custom made for tropical operations ( no heating system onboard ) and for smaller sized Asian sailors, the potential customer base would probably be limited to countries in South-East Asia and at best the Middle-East. Finally in Nov 2012, Indonesia acquired the 3 vessels from Brunei at  a bargain price of a fifth of the original cost ( reported to be 600 million pounds ). The ships would be reactivated and renamed the KRI Bung Tomo, KRI John Lie and KRI Usman Harun, in accordance with the Indonesian Navy's custom of naming their frigates after national heroes. They will be delivered to Indonesia in 2014.




The KDB Bandahara Sakam Photo : Clydesite.co.ok





The three Nakhoda Ragam class OPVs languishing at the port of
Burrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom in 2007 before they were sold to Indonesia.
The middle ship with pennant number 29, KDB Bandahara Sakam, would be
given a new pennant number 359 and renamed KRI Usman-Harun. Photo : Wikipaedia
 
 
 

Heroes and Terrorists



So who are these men Bung Tomo, John Lie and the two marines?

Sutomo or Bung Tomo ( Brother Tomo ) was an Indonesian military leader during the war of independence against the colonial powers. He played a central role in the Battle of Surabaya in Nov 1945 when the British forces attacked the city. Known for motivating the masses with his oratorical speeches before independence, he later became outspoken against corruption and abuses of power during the Suharto years. He died in Mecca, Saudi Arabia during the Hajj Pilgrimage in 1981.



National Hero : Bung Tomo circa 1947. Wikipaedia



John Lie, a.k.a. John Lie Tjeng Tjoan and Jahja Daniel Dharma was a Chinese Indonesian who joined the militia during Indonesia's war for independence and was involved in smuggling goods to Singapore in exchange for money to finance the revolution and weapons to fight the Dutch colonists. After independence, he was called to service as a commander in the navy and retired as a rear admiral in 1966. He died in 1988 and was posthumously awarded the Bintang Mahaputera Utama by President Suharto in 1995. He was declared a national hero for his services and contributions to his country by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2009.



National Hero : Colonel John Lie circa 1960. Photo : Wikipaedia


In contrast, Second Sergeant Usman Bin Haji Mohammed Ali a.k.a. Usman Janatin and Lance Corporal Harun Thohir a.k.a. Harun Said Bin Muhammad Ali are Indonesian Marines sent to infiltrate Singapore in civilian attire at the height of the then president Sukarno's Confrontation ( or Konfrontasi in Bahasa Indonesia ) policy towards newly formed Malaysia in 1965. The bombing of MacDonald's House ( home to HSBC Bank, Australian Embassy and Japanese Consulate then ) killed 3 innocent civilians and wounded 33 more. They were captured at sea 4 days after the bombing when trying to flee Singapore. Charged with murder and sentenced to death, they were finally hanged in Oct 1968 despite a clemency plea from the new Indonesian strongman President Suharto. They were promptly declared national heroes and buried in the Heroes cemetery in Jakarta. Note that since war was not formally declared between Indonesia and Malaysia / Singapore, these captives cannot be considered as prisoner of war ( POW) and conferred POW rights under the Geneva Convention. Although they were soldiers by profession, and even if war had been declared, they infiltrated a sovereign country without their military uniforms and that at best made them spies. Spies are usually either executed when captured and proven guilty or used as bargaining chips for prisoner exchanges and the works. At the end of the day bombing civilian infrastructures and killing and maiming innocent civilians are just acts of terrorism and the 2 perpetrators are nothing more than f***ing TERRORISTS. Misguided as they were by the Sukarno Government, they had to face the Singapore judicial system and accept the consequences of their actions. As a direct result of their execution, the Singapore embassy in Jakarta was mobbed and bilateral relations soured. It was not until 1973 when the then Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew visited their graves in Jakarta and sprinkled flowers over them that Singapore considered the chapter closed.



National Hero? Photo : Wikipaedia



Buying Cheap "New" Frigates



The Indonesians believed they had a good bargain, paying just US$300 million or about a fifth of the original cost of the 3 frigates. The politicians also dressed up the buy as new ships but we know better. These frigates are not exactly newly minted ships. They were constructed more than a decade ago and were left to rot at their berthing for many years. If fact they were originally out fitted with the Seawolf missile system for air defense but had to be retrofitted with the newer VL-MICA missiles as the missile manufacturer MBDA no longer sells the Seawolf missiles. All this will add to the original cost of the purchase.

Looking back, the tendency to shop for bargain goods seemed to be a national trait of Indonesia. In 1993, ex-president Habibie, then Science and Technology Minister, educated in Germany, bought the entire East German flotilla of floating junk - 15 year old corvettes, minesweepers, landing ships, gunboats, totaling 39 ships, at the "rock bottom" price of about $10 million to $12 million each without first consulting with the navy or finance ministry. It was subsequently found that to refurbish and retrofit those rusting kettles would cost Indonesia $1.1 billion, about a quarter of their annual defense budget. Despite this fiasco, Habibie went on to become Indonesia's vice president and then president, when Suharto was ousted during the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997.

If only the politicians were less corrupt Indonesia could probably be able to have a bigger budget for ordering more modern warships with better equipment and in greater numbers, like the 6 Formidable class stealth frigates of the Republic of Singapore Navy, instead of a paltry 3 ex-OPVs built for people with small statue.


The Choice of Names for A Man-of-War



While naming your ship is nobody else's business, it would be glaringly obvious to anyone that you do not give a ship a name that could offend others, including your neighbour. Imagine how would China react if Japan suddenly decided to name her helicopter carrier the JDS Yasukuni or how Japan would feel if the USN decided to name one of her destroyers USS Hiroshima. I mean you simply do not choose provocative or inappropriate names for your ships as they carry your flag and are considered an extension of your country's sovereignty everywhere it goes. When docking in a foreign country, it is like a piece of your land floating into the port of call. It is like a foreign embassy in any country.

Unfortunately, the Indonesian politicians cannot understand simple diplomatic principles with their pea brains. Maybe they don't even have a brain! They have been asked repeatedly by their Singapore counterparts, the Minister for Defense and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, what point are they trying to prove by naming their frigate after 2 terrorists? Why try to revive painful memories after almost half a century when the case had long been considered closed and bilateral relationship have prospered? Why risk aggrieving your 4th largest trade partner and your immediate neighbour? The reaction from the Indonesian ministers are even more shocking. The Indonesian Foreign Minister thought it was not a big deal since " the ships have not even arrived "and claimed that the naming was not done with malice and chided Singapore for over reacting. Going along with his stupid logic, what then AFTER the ship has arrived?

Just to illustrate how silly Indonesian politicians are, in 2013 when severe haze and smog from man-made forest fires in Indonesia's Riau Province blanketed large parts of Singapore, Malaysia and southern Thailand, protests from Singapore was ridiculed, with the Indonesian minister saying that Singapore should be thankful for all the oxygen ( generated from Indonesia's vast rainforests ) and stop grumbling about haze and air pollution that they had to endure for a few months every year during the dry season. Sadly he was just not intelligent enough to understand that by allowing his peat lands and rainforests to go up in flames, he accelerates global warming and in turn rising sea levels will result in inundation of several thousands of Indonesia's islands. A 0.5m rise in sea level will submerge 4 to 5 thousand of Indonesia's roughly 17000 islands, according to a newspaper report last week.


The Big Brother Syndrome



With a population of 237 million people, Indonesia is the 4th most populous nation on Earth and the most populous muslim country. It is also the biggest in terms of land mass among the South East Asian nations, rich in natural resources like oil and gas, timber and minerals. As a result, it always aspires to be the Big Brother of the region. Unfortunately, inept leaders, graft, poor infrastructure and many other factors prevented it from asserting its rightful influence on its neighbours.


Regional Map of South East Asia showing the geographical location and relative sizes of Indonesia Malaysia and Singapore. From Google Maps. 

 

Suharto probably felt snubbed by tiny Singapore when his clemency plea to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment was rejected. It would have given him a boost in status as the new President should he be successful in saving Indonesian lives abroad. So as a face saving measure, the marines were bestowed national hero status. Why should Suharto or anybody care about the death of two lowly marines otherwise? They were not even under his orders when the crime was committed.

It was a hard decision to proceed with the execution but Singapore could not be seen acceding to the wishes of bigger and more powerful nations just because they demanded and let's not forget that every other country is bigger than Singapore in the region! * Naturally, there were talks among Indonesian ultra-nationalist about invading Singapore but they never materialized. Although Singapore gained independence in Aug 1965, 2 months before the execution of the marines, the British forces were still stationed in Singapore and did not withdraw until 1971. By then the newly formed Singapore Armed Forces had already taken over the task of protecting the nation. * Even President Clinton was not successful in his plea not to cane American Michael Fay for his theft and graffiti offenses in 1994, only a reduction of 2 strokes, from 6 to 4.

Though bilateral ties had improved following the symbolic flower sprinkling on the graves by PM Lee Kuan Yew in 1973 and the subsequent formation of ASEAN in 1977, Indonesia had never shaken itself from this Big Brother mentality. After Suharto, President B.J. Habibie famously coined the phrase "Little Red Dot" when referring to Singapore during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998, in relation to how Singapore appeared on the world map. He did not think highly of Singapore, all of then 3 million people, pitted against his 211 million, not as a friend, apparently. However, a few months after that remark was made, when the crisis deepened and the Indonesian rupiah lost its value against the dollar by 15% overnight, it was tiny tiny Singapore that offered to provide 15 billion dollars of loan to Indonesia. This loan offer was never taken up in the end, perhaps Habibie was just too proud to eat his words and rather prefer to impose the tough reforms dictated by IMF.

As of today, the Indonesian lawmakers have refused to back down and rename the vessel. Although as the Indonesians always claimed, they have a right to name their ship whatever name they wished, they failed to take into account the feelings of their neighbours and how this could harm bilateral relationships. Some openly criticize Singapore for being arrogant because of her strong armed forces, but we all know that that is not true. Were it not for a strong Singapore Armed Forces, Big Brother Indonesia would have gobbled up Singapore loooooooong ago. Just look at Dutch New Guinea which was annexed by Jakarta in 1969 under dubious circumstances. It was subsequently called Irian Jaya but is now split into 2 separate provinces Papua and West Papua.


Final Word



Singapore should really thank her lucky stars to have such a pea-brained neighbour. Because if they were to be any smarter, with their vast natural resources and population, they would have dwarfed and snuffed Singapore of her existence. The fact that Singapore continues to enjoy phenomenal growth and stability has a lot to do with lazy, corrupt and stupid neighbours. Singapore should just forget about this silly cheap old ship and move on. There is not much point to dwell in the past. Apart from banning KRI Usman-Harun from entering her territorial waters, naval bases and ports, Singapore should concentrate on diversifying her trade and diplomatic relationship with other countries and gradually reduce any real or perceived dependency on Indonesia. It is difficult to do business with a partner who does not understand anything about synergism and mutual benefits.