SINGAPORE: Indonesia is set to acquire its first aircraft carrier from Italy this year, Indonesian news agency Antara reported on Friday (Feb 13).
The carrier, the Giuseppe Garibaldi, will be transferred to Indonesia by the Italian government as a grant, Antara said, citing the head of the Ministry of Defence’s public relations and information bureau, Brigadier General Rico Ricardo Sirait.
“The Giuseppe Garibaldi is a grant from the Italian government. The Indonesian government will allocate a budget for retrofitting or adjustments to meet the operational needs of the Indonesian Navy,” Antara reported him as saying.
Negotiations and administrative processes related to the vessel are ongoing between the governments of Indonesia and Italy, he added.
The Giuseppe Garibaldi was built by the Italian shipyard Fincantieri and commissioned in 1985. It was in service with the Italian Navy from 1985 to 2024.
Admiral Muhammad Ali, the Indonesian Navy’s chief of staff, said that the carrier is expected to arrive in Indonesia before Oct 5, the anniversary of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, Antara reported.
He added that negotiations are ongoing between the Ministry of Defence and Fincantieri as well as the Italian Navy.
The Giuseppe Garibaldi shares similarities with two of the Indonesian Navy’s new warships – the KRI Brawijaya and the KRI Prabu Siliwangi – which were also built by Fincantieri.
The Giuseppe Garibaldi is a short take-off and vertical landing carrier designed for both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.
It is 180.2m long, has a top speed of 30 knots and can travel up to 7,000 nautical miles.
The aircraft carrier is equipped with radar jammers and weapons such as anti-aircraft missiles, surface-to-surface missiles and torpedoes, Antara reported.
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