Thales Completes Repair and Upgrade of Kingklip Hull-Mounted Sonar on Indonesia’s Warship

28 Juni 2018

KRI Frans Kaisiepo 368 corvettes (photo : Vladimir Knyaz)

As a partner of the Indonesian Navy for over 40 years, Thales is the appointed supplier of combat systems for the country's warships in service. Earlier this year, Thales also successfully modernised one of Indonesia's Diponegoro-class corvettes by installing and integrating the sonar system with the Kingklip hull-mounted sonar. 

The upgrade follows a repair of the corvette damaged in an accident that took place during a routine sea operation in January 2015. By updating the operator console, signal processing and hardware technology, Thales enabled the Indonesian navy to achieve a boost in sonar performance for its warship as well as enhanced communicative capabilities between the user and the machine through the human machine interface (HMI), which is already installed on the Perusak Kawal Rudal (PKR) class frigate. 

Furthering its commitment to establish long-term relationships with local industrial partners and facilitate the transfer of knowledge and expertise, Thales worked closely with PT Dharma Satya Nusantara (DSN) on the reparation of the sonar system.

Kingklip-hull-mounted-sonar position (image : Damen)

In February 2018, Thales also completed a successful sea trial with the support of a former French navy sonar operator, who also shared best practices with the Indonesian navy officers. 

“We are proud to be part of the Indonesian navy's modernisation ambitions as we support them in the refurbishment of the sonar system on its warship. This is telling of the trust they have in Thales based on the longstanding partnership we have with the Indonesian authorities to always deliver and share our expertise to support them in their goals, whatever it takes,” said Eric-Jan Raatgerink, Country Director, Thales in Indonesia. 

Thales is supporting our customers' growth ambitions in the Republic of Indonesia for close to 40 years in the areas of defence, aerospace, and space. With its main office located in Jakarta, Thales is providing various solutions for air traffic management and telecommunication satellites to its civil customers, while being a long-term provider of defence solutions to the Indonesian Air Force, Army and Navy. 

(Thales)