The shipyard Royal Schelde and Thales
recently signed several contracts
for the delivery of a wide range of products that are to be installed
on the two corvettes that Royal Schelde will build for the Indonesian
Navy. Thales will supply the ship's above-water defence system, the
communication equipment and the sonar system. The value of the
contracts amounts to approximately 60 million euros. The first ship is
expected to be commissioned mid 2007.
The corvettes will be deployed by the Indonesian Navy mainly for patrol
duties in the Indonesian archipelago in order to counter smuggling,
illegal fishery and piracy, especially in the Strait of Malacca. One of
the deciding factors for this contract is the good relation between the
Indonesian Navy and Thales, based on the experience gained with the
NAV5 patrol boats that were commissioned between 2000 and 2004.
The above water defence systems to be installed on the corvettes
include: the TACTICOS scaleable combat management system, the MW08 3D
multibeam surveillance radar, the LIROD Mk2 tracking radar, the LINK Y
Mk2 datalink system and Target Designation Sights. For under
water
defence capability, the Thales Kingklip medium frequency active/passive
Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) hull-mounted sonar has been selected. The
naval communication system of the corvettes has been developed by
Thales in Germany, based on the FOCON system. Thales will perform the
complete combat system integration of these corvettes. To operate this
sophisticated equipment, the future crew of the ships will be trained
in the Netherlands by Thales. Thales expects to be able to keep playing
a substantial role in the safety of the Indonesian archipelago.
About Thales
Thales is the only non-US company capable of providing and integrating
a comprehensive naval defence system for a variety of ship classes.
Recent tests have proved Thales' leading position in defence missile
control capabilities. Thales is an international electronics and
systems group, serving defence, aerospace and security markets. The
group employs about 62,000 people worldwide and generated revenues of
10.6 billion euro in 2003.