Indonesian Navy to ground 27 old war machines

The Indonesian Navy is to ground six warships and 21 Nomad surveillance planes as part of its gradual phasing-out of its aging war machines.Navy chief Vice Adm. Agus Suhartono said on Monday the armed force would maintain six other Nomad planes as training aircraft for cadets. It has also struck a deal worth US$80 million to purchase three maritime patrol aircraft from state aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI) as replacements for the old Nomads.

“The three CN-235 maritime patrol planes and the six remaining Nomads [are] adequate to conduct surveillance duties,” Agus told Antara news agency.He said PT DI would develop a more sophisticated surveillance aircraft for the Navy.“In the future the aircraft [will be] equipped with anti-submarine technology, depending on equipment, operational needs and technical specifications that we want,” Agus said.The Navy has not decided whether to replace the six US-built warships, which have been in service for over 20 years.

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