Indonesia has signed an agreement paving the way for the acquisition of two additional UK-designed Arrowhead 140 frigates, as part of a wider maritime partnership programme with British defence firm Babcock.
The agreement covers the sale of two further Arrowhead 140 design licences under Indonesia’s Maritime Partnership Programme, a framework valued at up to £4 billion that aims to expand Indonesia’s naval and maritime industrial capacity. The licences are expected to be delivered over the coming months.
The move builds on Indonesia’s original purchase of two Arrowhead 140 licences in 2021, which form the basis of the locally built Merah Putih frigate class. The first ship from that programme was launched in Indonesia late last year, marking a key milestone in Jakarta’s plans to expand domestic naval shipbuilding capability.
Alongside the licence agreement, a Letter of Intent has been signed outlining Indonesia’s broader procurement ambitions under the Maritime Partnership Programme. The document was signed on behalf of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Babcock chief executive David Lockwood, and is intended to enable further agreements as the partnership develops.
The Maritime Partnership Programme was formally announced in November 2025 and is designed to support Indonesia’s naval modernisation alongside wider maritime objectives, including shipbuilding infrastructure development, supply-chain growth and long-term sustainment capability.
Babcock said the programme supports Indonesia’s ambitions to strengthen maritime security while also revitalising domestic shipbuilding and supporting economic development in coastal communities.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the latest phase of the partnership would deliver benefits for both countries.
“No matter where I am, delivering for working people at home is always in my mind’s eye,” he said. “Today’s next phase of our partnership with Indonesia is a powerful vote of confidence in the UK, securing hundreds of high-skilled jobs right here in Rosyth and strengthening our world-class shipbuilding future.”
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto described the partnership as strategically important for the country’s long-term maritime ambitions.
“We are pleased to proceed with the maritime partnership,” he said. “This is very important and strategic for Indonesia. This is a vital part of our maritime economic development.”
Babcock chief executive David Lockwood said the agreement marked early progress under the wider framework.
“The Maritime Partnership Programme between Babcock and Indonesia is focused on advancing Indonesia’s defence and maritime capabilities, infrastructure and supply chain, while creating jobs and prosperity for local communities,” he said.
“This first work order, within this landmark framework, signals the importance of pace and progress and underpins the growing success of our Arrowhead 140 export design.”
The Arrowhead 140 frigate design, derived from the Royal Navy’s Type 31 programme, has become one of the UK’s most successful recent naval exports. In addition to Indonesia, the design has been selected by Poland and is under consideration in several other markets.
While the latest agreement does not constitute a contract for the construction of additional ships, it signals Indonesia’s intent to expand its Arrowhead-based frigate programme and reinforces the UK’s growing role in Indo-Pacific naval industrial partnerships.
Another Bullseye for Arrowhead then.
This is just the tip of the spear when it comes to foreign orders, lots of others to follow.
That’s the spirit !.
Be interesting to see which way NZ goes, Mogami or AH140 and if they’ll order more than just two to replace the Anzacs? Not sure what the price difference between the two is.
I knew you’d quiver with excitement on hearing this news.
Anyone tracking what Indonesia is actually equipping this with? I’m tracking just guns and a CIWS?
Well they do still tip their Arrows with poison 🤔
According to Navy lookout
MİDLAS Universal VLS totalling 64 cells
HİSAR (25km range) or SiPER (150km range) air defence missiles.
Two Oto Melara 76 mm Super Rapid guns will be fitted in the A and B positions.
Close-in defence is provided by a Rheinmetall Oerlikon 35 mm Millennium Gun
12.7 mm weapon stations. They also carry triple
324 mm torpedo launchers for lightweight torpedoes.
Bringer of Facts
Apart from the design do you have any facts! on any UK type 31 kit being supplied especially UK manufactued? Navy Lookout wrote this – ‘some shared share content with UK type 31’s making them cheaper through economies of scale’. I had a look and didn’t see anything apart quite a lot of Turkish kit.
Thanks in advance
From what I’ve red is that the MIDLAS is FFBNW however, as is one of the 76mm and torpedoes?
Look for this article on NL:
“Indonesia names KRI Balaputradewa, first of their Arrowhead 140-derived frigates”
The photos show what looks like a VLS to me.
Atmaca AShm
For a while, much of the equipment was FFBNW. Then, recently, they signed for most (if not all) of that additional equipment, so these should carry a well-rounded radar suite, 64-cell MIDLAS VLS, with the equipped Turkish missiles, and IIRC a sonar suite as well.
great news – we really do have 2 winning designs with T31 and T26. Just need our own government to order more
Which would make sense as the more ships ordered by other nations means that there will be economies of scale, so the per-ship cost will go down and any additional ships we build for ourselves would be cheaper than the first ones.
Yes, 3-5 more to beef up the RN and keep up its presence.
Personally it would be nice to see a batch 2.. the UK really needs to actually acknowledge it’s an island power and needs a navy.. a batch of 5 with a focus on more AAW would be good, it’s seems likely now Denmark are going to order four with an AAW focus.. the T31 mother designed had a second volume search radar.. so so suspect that will be what Denmark are after.. I would imagine they will also want to move away from US missiles as well.. so a CAMM family duel sensor AAW T31 may be on the cards.. if it is the RN should get on the order and have 6.. with a Denmark order of 4 that’s one a year till 2040 and the RN can take advantage of a hot production line and shared costs..
Having 6 T45 and 6 T31s focused on AAW would give the RN back its 12 AAW ships ( the number it was alway meant to have) it would create space for the T83 to be pushed back to the mide 45s ( as they T45s can keep going into the mid 40s.. they were better built than the T23s and have had easy lives.. so getting 35 years out of them should not be an issue).. this would allow the RN to take advantage of cheaper T26s and squeeze out say 4 more in the later 2030s
That would give you a 2040# fleet of 29
6 T45 AAW ( to be replaced from 2045 -2051)
6 T31 AAW ( to be replaced from 2056- 65)
5 T31 GP ( to be replaced from 2051-56)
12 T26 ASW ( to be replaced from ( 2052 – 2065)
Then with the space Babcock would have from 2040-2050 you could get them to build 10 more GP t31s to give you 12 AAW, 12 ASW 15 GP.. for a final 2050 fleet of 39.. an appropriate fleet for an independent maritime nation in a 3 pole world.
That is a realistic approach to a navy that the UK needs and sustainable shipbuilding.
Wakey wakey mate, you’re having a lovely dream but It’s time to get up now !!!!!
Honestly mate the dream is that we can leave the RN with 19 frigates and destroyers.. it was the dream of that fanastist Cameron.. in the real world the RN needed 32 frigates and destroyers for its friendly world peacetime commitments.. in a world that is truly going to shit I ask is even 30-32 a pleasant dreamy fantasy fleet.
Umm…in reality, perhaps even 19 RN destroyers and frigates is a relatively distant aspiration? Current official count: 6 T-45s, 7 T-23s? Every indication remaining T-23s may be struck from fleet register sooner than replacement T-26 and T-31 vessels commissioned, through the mid-2030s? Meanwhile, on the other side of the Pond, the latest USN surface combatant get well plan involves a modded USGS cutter? While two, and soon possibly three, members of the CRINK alliance are concentrating on SSN production? Concerned this script does not have a Hollywood ending.
…USCG cutter 🙄
Funnily enough I was having a discussion with a some Trump supporting end NATO types..I pointed out that without Europe in a decade the PLAN would in all likelihood outnumber the USN 2 to 1.. and that smaller navies do not win wars against larger navies …well first they told me the PLAN was a load of coastal cutters a they may out number the USN but a couple of carriers would sink the lot… so I gave them the full force breakdown and projected PLAN numbers vs USN planned numbers.. they then came back with the argument that the US is not building ships because it does not want to and if it wanted to it could out build China.. I then rationally pointed out the US had over decades trashed its shipbuilding capacity and that the US was only capable of building 100,000 tons of ships a year vs China with a capacity of over 250 million tons or 2500 times the shipbuilding capacity and congress has a long list of ships its allocated money for but US industry cannot build on time.. they then came back at me with ships are irrelevant and the US would destroy the PLAN via space based attack systems ( apparently spaceships with ground attack weapons that can target and destroy ships is a thing the USA is majoring in) and swarms of thousands of drones.. I pointed out that drones cannot travel 10,000kms stay on station for 3 months covering a choke point or shipping lane and that a drone cannot travel 10,000km to your coastline and drop 30 cruise missiles with 500kg warheads 2000km into your country.. and no spaces based anti ship weapons do not exist and you need a kill chain to kill a ship so you need to be close.. and that ships transport everything that matters ( including the food that feeds the US) so losing a maritime conflict would be more than humbling.. so you may just need Europes 120 frigates and destroyers, 50 submarines and 5 carriers…. I did not get a further response🤷
Ahhh, yes, definite preference for the Constitution, Defiant and Galaxy classes of Starfleet starships. Productive expenditure of DoD black funding. 😂😁🙄
It’s truly amazing how far ahead US military technology is.. I reckon it’s all retro engineering from the intergalactic battlecruise that crashed and they have stashed away in Area 51… that’s it I’m starting a new conspiracy theory DJT has actually in secret and partnered with X created a space force of 15, 100,000 ton interstellar battleships.. to protect the US from the wiggle empire.
Where would you get the crews to man all these ships from?
2 suggestions for crews for Johnathan’s excellent post:
– conscription purely for the RN only (aimed at 18-25 year olds)
– recruitment returned to the preserve of the ships company. Port visits (recruitment days) to ensure recruits go directly to that vessel post phase 2. Ships company to be given a bounty for each successful recruit.
Look at the timeframes.. you recruited them .. we are a nation of 60-70 million we can train them.. the whole we don’t have crews issue is BS.. we don’t have crews at present because we have not recruited them and don’t have the ships to put them on.. a navy does not have more crews lying around than it needs for the ships it has at the time..if we use that excuse of we only have x crews then there is no reason to even build the present 13 frigates on order.. as we only had enough crews for about six so let’s just build the first 3 T31s and T26s..if we use your reasoning, because your correct at present we don’t have the crews for more than six so so we don’t need to build more than six… do you see the self defeating counter logic.. how many crews and how many frigates we have today is completely irrelevant to how many ships we have build and crewed in 2040… China builds and crews about 6-10 new ships a year.. you don’t hear them go ohhh tragedy how could we train 6 more frigate crews over the next 15 years.. no they just train the crews they need for the ships they build..I’m not suggesting materialising 6 more new frigates from matter converters next Tuesday.. I’m suggesting a 2 decade plan to move the frigates and destroyer fleet from an unrealistic and fantasy fleet 19 to a realistic real world requirement of 30+
We in the UK need to stop making quite frankly stupid excuses ( and thinking we cannot recruit and train an extra 6-10 crews of about 100 each over 2 decades from a 60-70 million population is quite frankly idiotic).. we talk of fantasy fleets with contempt, the only fantasy is what we have at present that, the fantasy that 19 frigates and destroyers in in any way appropriate.. it was Blair’s fantasy and Cameron’s fantasy but it is not real and when you pretend fantasy is real you end up suffering generally catastrophic real life consequences..
Yup, I despair at ship numbers especially given actual availability numbers. It’s 12 whole years since Putin started flexing yet here we still are, faffing about.
Additional ASW cover will apparently be provided by this Atlantic Bastion drone-mothership (fantasy?) project that was detailed a few weeks ago. Interestingly though as we discussed at the time a T32 should be a good fit for the mothership role.
That’s a nice and healthy list but might have to trim the T31 AAW and T26 quantities a 2-4? The fleet numbers will be tied to what and where the UK wants the RN to be and can afford. Needs to be strong up North and Atlantic, middly in the Med and for me somewhere between the above with a base fleet of 3-4 T31s for forward presence in the Indo-Pacific, protecting international trade lanes, keeping a presence with our allies and maintaining alliances and partaking in CSG rotations and exercises.
*by
Apart from a ship design , what exactly is the UK supply content in building these ships in Indonesia .
Babcock will be doing all the systems intergration and design work.. that is done in the UK.. power and propulsion is German.
If Indonesia goes for the arrowhead as its defacto frigate of choice this could end up a very big deal indeed.. there plans are long term and significant.. there are probably up to about 15 more frigates up for grabs moving forward… and Indonesia does not have the capacity to build them all..
The Danish defence minister just announced in a press conference with John Healey that Denmark is highly likely to acquire the Arrow Head 140 and he is travelling to Scotland soon.
Well I’m all very happy for Babcock, it’s highly like that between the T26 order from Norway and a Danish Order in Rosyth that we won’t be seeing any more British surface vessels beyond the 19 currently on order.
Or it could keep the prices down and so allow some more.. after all it would not be tragic if in 2030 there was a 1 ship a year drumbeat.. one for the RN and 1 for Denmark up until 2040.. that would work well for the RN..
Just so long as we don’t get European Peace Dividend 2.0 after the inevitable collapse of the RF terrorist state in the coming year(s).
Even without the FSB regime, there’s no shortage of aggressors and threats at sea. An island national has great need to protect its critical infrastructure, much of which is underwater.
Even if the current regime in Russia collapses, I wouldn’t bet money that whatever replaces it will be any better… The place doesn’t have a history of successful democracy, but it does have a long one of tyrannical autocracy.
Trump will want Russia to protect the USA from Europe.
“Meet The New Tsar, Same As The Old Tsar”
As true today as ever.
Devolution into separate Republics is the only path to democracy as keeping the FSB regime in existence with a new dictator will only be more of the same.
I suspect that Devolution would require a pathfinder to demonstrate that it’s possible and much better than business as usual.
So kaliningrad could be critical in breaking out of central RF control. Let’s hope the separatist movement is successful..
A breakup of the Russian federation, mirroring the breakup of the USSR would be the ideal scenario. Of course the dissolution of the USSR was far from perfect, ultimately putting Putin in charge of Russia. But ultimately the smaller the state, the less trouble it can cause (most of Russia’s disposable troops are pulled from East of the Urals).
Makes me wonder how much the SBU are giving support to independence movements east of the Urals where RF central command is weak, and the people have many reasons to look for another way to live despite their losses under the current regime.
Maybe they have enough hydrocarbon infrastructure to be self developing if they didn’t have sanctions. After hostilities end the black sea terminals can be rebuilt and new transit contracts agreed.
I doubt it, I don’t think there’s any credible movements existing under Putin’s authoritarian regime. Separation is more like to come from the local leadership currently perceiving that Moscow’s ability to control them has sufficiently weakened. That’s what happened in 1991, after the failed military coup exposed Moscow’s weakness.
Danish PM visiting Starmer too today I believe.
Maybe a Danish T31/AH140 announcement coming? It is end of Jan already! Lol.
regarding 2nd point, which shows its all about profit and business rather than defence. Could Babcock not (re-)open another yard in Portsmouth or Tyneside to build further frigates?
Up to 15!? That’s got to light NZ’s eyes up? Might be able to get a good value deal if co-share productuon versus the Mogami?
Good good. Presuming any lessons they learn building out these licenses are shared with Babcock which then implement their fixes ahead of our steel being cut?
Increase the odds of NZ choosing T31?
It seems to be just the license fee for the UK, some of which probably has to go to Denmark. Repeat order, so no extra design or systems integration work. Hull build and outfitting in Indonesia. T31 Combat system not UK in the first place apart from CAMM, and for Indonesia mainly now Turkish. Propulsion mainly German.