Bung Karno-class corvette

The Bung Karno class is a class of corvettes in service with the Indonesian Navy. The class were built by PT Karimun Anugrah Sejati shipyard in Batam, Riau Islands.

Design
The lead ship Bung Karno has a length of 73 m, beam of 12 m, and displacement of 650 t. The corvette is powered by two diesel engines generating 4000 kW. The ship has a top speed of 24 kn and cruising speed of 20 kn. Bung Karno has a complement of 55 personnel.

The ship was planned to be armed with one Leonardo's OTO Marlin 40 turret, two 20 mm autocannons and MBDA SIMBAD surface-to-air missiles. The corvette was planned to be fitted with torpedo and sonar in the future. Bung Karno also able to carry a Eurocopter AS565 Panther helicopter and has a flight deck similar to Bung Tomo-class corvette.

In its role as presidential yacht, the ship was planned to have bulletproof VVIP accommodation and able to function as command ship in times of emergency.

History
Bung Karno was designed to meet the needs of a new presidential ship that were also capable to be utilized as a warship in wartime. The previous presidential ship, KRI Barakuda (633), is a patrol boat built by Lürssen and was launched in 1995. After 27 years of service as presidential ship, the Navy saw it needed to be replaced. The 300 billion rupiah contract for the new presidential ship/corvette was awarded to PT Karimun Anugrah Sejati shipyard in Batam, Riau Islands on 25 May 2022. The steel cutting and keel laying for the presidential ship were done on 9 June 2022. On 20 June, the ship was officially named as Bung Karno. The ship was launched on 19 April 2023 and commissioned on 1 June 2023.

During the commissioning ceremony of Bung Karno, the Chief of Staff of the Navy Admiral Muhammad Ali stated that a sister ship to Bung Karno was planned to be built. The unnamed second ship would have better weaponries than Bung Karno. The contract for the second ship was signed on 25 January 2024 at PT Karimun Anugrah Sejati shipyard. On the same day, the steel cutting and keel laying ceremony was held.