Indonesia Boosts Air Defence Capability

21 Juli 2005

Kobra System : Poprad-short range air defence missile (photo : Radwar)

Poland is to provide the Indonesian Land Forces (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Darat, or TNI-AD) with a Kobra mobile integrated low-level air defence system under a contract worth USD35 million. The deal was signed on 4 July during a visit to Jakarta by the Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka.

Developed by Warsaw-based CNPEP Radwar, the system is designed to protect a logistics base or an airbase-sized facility against air assault. Under the contract, Indonesia will pay 15 per cent of the contract value now, with the rest – USD29.75 million – being covered by a loan granted by the Polish government on 30 June.

Poland has already loaned Indonesia USD145 million to purchase defence and security equipment. Systems ordered include four Polskie Zaklady Lotnicze (PZL) M28 Skytruck short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft, 11 PZL Mi-2 plus helicopters and five NS-935 patrol boats, all for different branches of the Indonesian police forces.

Kobra System : ZUR-23KG (photo : Radwar)

The Kobra system comprises a lightweight mobile multi-beam search radar (MMSR), four Poprad mobile anti-aircraft systems and two WD-95 battery command vehicles (BCVs). Added to this are 14 ZUR-23-2KG Jodek-G gun/missile anti-aircraft systems (12 for the Kobra and two for training and other purposes) made by ZM Tarnow, while ZM Mesko is responsible for delivering an undisclosed amount of standard and advanced ammunition for the system, including a 23 mm Frangible Armour-Piercing Discarding Sabot round. Each Poprad system can operate several kilometres away from the WD-95 BCVs, which, in turn, can be located several kilometres away from an MMSR post. Each ZUR-23-2KG position can be located up to 1 km away from the WD-95. The package also covers training of Indonesian instructors, both in Poland and on location in Indonesia. Delivery of the systems should be completed within two years.

A number of local industrial partners have been identified to provide in-service support and maintenance of the system. As JDW was informed in 2004 by a source close to the negotiations, Indonesia was interested in procuring three more such systems, to be delivered by 2010-12. However, any further orders will be dependent on the system proving itself in the local environment. The MMSR, WD-95s and Poprads will be installed on JLR Huzar 6 x 6 vehicles: unarmoured variants of the JLR Huzar 6 x 6 patrol vehicle, which was a Polish-developed variant of the Land Rover Defender 110. Radwar decided to use the Land Rover family of vehicles because of the excellent logistics base available in Southeast Asia for the vehicles.

Kobra System : MMSR search radar (photo : Radwar)

Indonesia thus becomes the launch customer for the Poprad and MMSR as well as the launch export customer for the WD-95 (with software dedicated to the ZUR-23-2 and Poprad systems instead of S-60M guns) and the ZUR-23-2KG. CNPEP Radwar’s MMSR, which operates in the S-band, is at the heart of the system. It has evolved from the Radwar surveillance radar developed for the Loara self-propelled anti-aircraft gun and is optimised to detect targets with small radar cross-sections, including helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. The MMSR has a range of 40 km and high electronic countercountermeasure characteristics.

Meanwhile, ThalesRaytheonSystems has been awarded a follow-on contract for additional Master-T mobile 3-D long-range air defence radars to Indonesia. The contract, for an undisclosed value and number of systems, was preceded by an order announced in March 2004, which included a command and control (C2) system. The new radars will be integrated into this system.

Battery Command Vehicle (photo : Radwar)

The new Master-T radars are Sband and have a range of 400 km, according to the company. The radar and system will be based mainly in the country’s east. Master-T and variants of the same family have been sold into Asia (Master-A), Europe (Master-A, -M and –T), the Middle East and Africa (Master-T), the Pacific Rim and the Far East, one of the latter users being Singapore with the Master-A. The Master-T system is largely transported in two ISO standard shipping containers and can be deployed as a standalone with colocated command and control facility or as part of a wider network. The company says a standalone unit with C2 centre can be set up bya crew of four in 30 minutes.

Additional reporting by Damian Kemp JDW Aviation Editor, London Warsaw Poland’s integrated anti-aircraft system comprising an MMSR radar, Poprad mobile antiaircraft systems and WD-95 BCVs, will be delivered to Indonesia installed on JLR Ulan 6 x 6 vehicles.

(Jane’s)