By 14 Agustus 2017
Indonesia has shortlisted the Russian developed BT-3F amphibious tracked vehicle to replace its marines corps’ ageing BTR-50PKs. Contract may see Indonesia become the first international customer of the BT-3F (photo : bronetechnikamira)
A request by the Indonesian Marines (Korps Marinir – KORMAR) to formally withdraw from further acquisitions of the BTR-4 8×8 amphibious wheeled armoured personnel carriers (APCs) is close to being approved by the Indonesian government, and the service has singled out Russia’s BT-3F platform as a front runner replacement in the programme.
Sources from the Indonesian Navy (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Laut, or TNI-AL) told Jane’s on 14 August that as part of a due diligence process to select the replacement, KORMAR chief Major General Bambang Suswantono, and a delegation of senior officers from the service, will arrive in Russia in the week beginning 21 August to witness a demonstration of the BT-3F near Moscow.
Major Gen Bambang will also participate in the Army 2017 military-technical forum as part of his visit, and visit the premises of Concern Tractor Plants, the Russian heavy industry equipment developer that designed BT-3F. KORMAR is a service under the TNI-AL’s command structure.
The Indonesian House of Representatives’ commission on defence, intelligence, and foreign affairs (Komisi I) had previously approved a sum of USD95 million under the country’s 2017 defence budget to replace the KORMAR’s ageing BTR-50PK APCs with BTR-4s. This approval was granted in addition to the initial batch of five BTR-4 APCs ordered by the Indonesian Ministry of Defence (MoD) from Ukraine’s defence industry holding group UkrOboronProm in February 2014.
(Jane’s)
