Regional News
South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd (DSME) has taken a large step towards entering the international submarine export market. According to Korean media reports, the company confirmed on Monday that it would sign a contract with Indonesia in November for the construction and delivery of three attack submarines. “We have launched talks to sign a submarine contract with Indonesia’s defence ministry and [Navy],” Daewoo explained in an official statement.
Further, according to the Korea Times, DSME’s Communication Director Jeong Seong-dae said: “Both sides have long-discussed the sale of Korean-built submarines, and now we are in the final stage of fine-tuning detailed requirements and contract terms.”
According to the news reports, the contract, which is expected to be signed next month between Daewoo and the Indonesian Ministry of Defence, will be worth $1.1 billion and is the largest defence export contract ever secured by a South Korean company. In addition, it would be a significant step for Daewoo in entering the international submarine market. Previously, a contract between Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Indonesia for the sale of 16 T-50 Golden Eagle trainers, worth $400 million, was the largest South Korean defence export order.
Although final details of the agreement are still being negotiated, it is certain that DSME will provide the Indonesian Navy with three indigenously developed 1,400-ton attack submarines. The Korea Times explains that the vessels, which will be built with technical assistance from Germany’s Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems group), will be powered by diesel-electric engines.
Further, the submarines will measure 56 meters in length and 5.5 meters in width and are expected to be capable of reaching a depth of 250 meters and of remaining submerged for about two weeks. Crewed by 33 sailors, the vessels are set to achieve a surface speed of 11 knots and 22 knots underwater.
As Arirang News reports, Daewoo prevailed as the preferred bidder for this major project over competitors from France, Germany and Russia. Although Indonesia is already operating two Cakra-class attack submarines of the HDW-developed Type 209 design, France and South Korea dominated the competition, entering the final round in June 2011.
With revenues of US$ 11.4 billion in 2010 and some 25,000 employees, Seoul-headquartered DSME ranks as the world’s third-largest, and Korea’s second-largest, shipbuilder. Daewoo’s naval portfolio covers a large range of vessel types, ranging from patrol vessels to destroyers and submarines. In 2011, for the first time the company displayed its naval capabilities at the DSEi 2011 exhibition in London and the company stated that foreign defence industry authorities expressed serious interest in Daewoo ships at the show.
With the three-phased KSS Korean attack submarine programme, the Asian country has progressively built an indigenous manufacturing capability in the field of submarines. While the first phase of the programme (KSS-I) consisted of procuring nine 1,200-ton German-built Type 209 submarines, the following phases increasingly included participation of national industries and integration of indigenously developed technologies. Currently, South Korea plans to build 3,000-ton attack submarines beginning in 2018 within the framework of the KSS-III programme phase. This phase sees a close cooperation between DSME and its primary domestic rival, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), for the development and integration of an indigenously developed vertical launching system (VLS).
The submarine export order for the Indonesian Navy underlines the progress of the South Korean industrial base in the naval sector during past decades and its growing position in the Asian and worldwide defence markets.
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By: Nicolas von Kospoth, Managing Editor
Source: Defence Professionals, Oct. 12, 2011
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