The Indonesian Navy (Tentera Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Laut, or TNI-AL) has fired an Exocet anti-ship missile from a Bung Tomo-class corvette for the first time.
The test, in which a MM40 Block 2 version of the missile was fired from first-of-class KRI Bung Tomo (357), was conducted on 28 May in the Java Sea and witnessed by senior navy leaders, including TNI-AL chief of staff Vice Admiral Ade Supandi.
A source close to the TNI-AL told that the missile was fired at the lead Kupang-class 43 m landing craft utility (LCU) ship, KRI Kupang (582), which was decommissioned in May.
"We hope that the successful test firing of the missile will be a deterrence to both state and non-state actors who intend to violate Indonesia's territorial sovereignty," the TNI-AL said in a statement.
The Bung Tomo-class corvettes are armed with one Otobreda 76 mm Super Rapid gun, two MSI Defence 30 mm guns, and six (two triple) 324 mm torpedo tubes. The ships are also equipped with four (two twin) launchers for Exocet missiles and 16 vertical launching system (VLS) cells for defence against airborne threats.
With the test completed successfully, Bung Tomo will now be prepared to head for the Middle East for peacekeeping operations as part of the Maritime Task Force United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (MTF UNIFIL). Indonesia has been supporting the peacekeeping operation since 2009 by sending the TNI-AL's Diponegoro (SIGMA)-class corvettes in rotation. Bung Tomo will be the first corvette in class dispatched for MTF UNIFIL.
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