Tasked with securing and patrolling one of the largest, most strategically located coastlines in the world, Indonesia recently added two modern SIGMA 10514 multipurpose warships, also known as Perusak Kawal Rudal frigates, to its fleet. The ships are based on the Dutch Ship Integrated Geometrical Modularity Approach (SIGMA) design, and the numerical designation 10514 represents warship length and beam in meters. Thus, SIGMA 10514 measures roughly 10 meters long (344 feet) with a 14-meter (46-foot) beam.
The Indonesian Ministry of Defense ordered the first of these frigates in late 2010. Named the Raden Eddy Martadinata, she was launched in 2016 and delivered the following year. The second frigate, I Gusti Ngurah Rai, was ordered in 2013 and commissioned in early 2018. The ships were each built in six modules, with work divided between Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding in the Netherlands and PT PAL Shipyard in Indonesia. Four of the six modules were built in Indonesia, including the forward and aft hull blocks and the mid and aft superstructure portions. The more complicated bridge and machinery modules were built in the Netherlands, with final assembly and linkage of all block modules taking place in Indonesia.
Displacing 2,365 tons, the steel-hull SIGMA 10514 design has accommodations for a crew of 122 and sufficient space for a variety of advanced sensors and weapons, which were installed on board the two frigates in 2019 and 2020, respectively. A single 76-mm naval gun and a 35-mm Millennium gun are fitted forward of the bridge. Antiship armament consists of two quad launchers for up to eight Exocet MM40 Block 3 cruise missiles, each with a range of roughly 100 nautical miles (nm). A 12-cell vertical launch system carries VL-MICA missiles for short-range air defense. Two triple torpedo tube launchers with A-244S lightweight torpedoes are carried for antisubmarine warfare (ASW).
The two ships have a hangar and landing deck for one AS-565 Panther maritime helicopter or similarly sized aircraft. Sensors include the SMART-S Mk 2 3-D radar for air and surface search, hull-mounted sonar for ASW, and the TACTICOS Combat Management System, along with an electronic support measure/electronic countermeasure system and associated decoy launchers. The class carries two rigid-hull inflatable boats for interceptor duties and maintains capabilities for maritime patrol and security, disaster relief, and humanitarian assistance in addition to her primary antiair, antisurface, and antisubmarine responsibilities.
The frigates have a combined diesel or electric propulsion system with two diesels and two electric motors powering two controllable-pitch propellers. This enables a maximum speed of 28 knots and a range of more than 5,000 nm cruising at 14 knots. Indonesia also operates four smaller SIGMA 9113 corvettes that entered service between 2007 and 2009, and Mexico recently commissioned a near-sister SIGMA 10514 frigate for patrol duties.