Christophe Salomon (Thales)
Aerospace and defence group Thales are expanding their partnership with PT Len Industri to boost Indonesia’s airspace protection capabilities.
Thales will provide air surveillance radars and solutions, as well as a command-and-control system, SkyView, to help the Indonesian armed forces’ goal of strengthening its airspace security.
This collaboration will span the next few years with Thales building the solutions and PT Len constructing the radar stations, providing the installation and integration of the systems, including managing civil works for the program, supported by Thales.
PT Len will manufacture certain components of the radars locally which may boost local expertise – further contributing towards Indonesia’s goal of strengthening its defence industry.
Through the partnership, PT Len hopes to gain more radar expertise and knowledge, thereby positioning itself as the country’s “radar centre of excellence”.
“Our working relationship with Thales, which dates back several decades, gives us the confidence
that Thales is the right partner to help us drive Defend ID forward,” said Bobby Rasyidin, president director of PT Len Industri.
“This radar contract is a further testament to our strong partnership and aligned vision to build expertise locally. Through this project, PT Len will be building the next generation of defence engineers in Indonesia.”
This latest contract will see Thales delivering 13 of its “long range and low altitude” radars, the Ground Master 400 Alpha (GM400), which they claim can boost the armed forces’ early detection capabilities against new threats, cyber attacks as well as electronic warfare tactics.
As for its complementary command-and-control system SkyView, Thales aims to help the forces fully integrate Indonesia’s air operation centres at the local, regional, and national levels.
The strategic collaboration between Thales and PT Len was signed in November 2022 and is focused at maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) activities for radars managed by the Indonesian Air Force. They project the joint venture to begin operations in early 2024.
“Thales is proud to contribute to safeguarding and enhancing the sovereignty of Indonesian airspace,” said Christophe Salomon, executive vice president, Land and Air Systems at Thales.
“Our commitment to Indonesia goes beyond just providing equipment. We are excited to deepen our strategic partnership with PT Len to define a roadmap for Indonesia’s defence modernisation, including the development of an Air national C2 centre as well as local radar MRO activities.”
