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With the government unable to provide the necessary funds for the procurement of new warships, the military is now working to manufacture its own patrol vessels equipped with missile launchers.

Military Chief Gen. Djoko Santoso said recently the vessels would primarily be used for peaceful missions, but would always be on standby in the event of armed conflict.

“In peacetime, the ships will be used to patrol Indonesian waters, but they will be ready for war,” Djoko said.

Navy Chief Adm. Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno said testing had already been performed on the missile launchers and several different types of vessels.

According to Tedjo, fiberglass and tin vessels had already been ruled out by testing as unsuitable for the Navy’s needs.

“Now we are working on a ship with a steel bottom and tin on the upper half, and I am optimistic that this vessel will work,” he said, without revealing when or where the tests were being conducted.

Tedjo said that the military planned to use Chinese-made C802 and C795 missiles for the patrol ships.

“[The Chinese manufacturers] have promised to transfer their knowledge to us so that we can produce our own missiles,” he added.

Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelagic country, has more than 100 warships, but most are old and no longer war-ready. Most of the warships were imported from Europe, including Germany and the Netherlands.

Indonesia bought 39 warships from Germany in 1993, and just recently purchased four missile launchers from the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, a senior Air Force official said they would soon purchase Oerlikom Kontraves 35-millimeter ground-to-air missile launchers from Switzerland.

Harry Budiono, commander of the Paskhas Air Commodore unit, said the launchers would be used by the Air Force’s Special Command to secure strategic air bases.

Harry said the Air Force currently used the PSU triple gun, which was manufactured in the 1950s. “We need new weapons to replace the old ones,” Harry was quoted as saying by state-owned Antara news agency.

He also said the Air Force was planning to buy an OW-3 antimissile radar system from China, which would be used to detect attacks on air bases.

“We will use it to guard air bases in Jakarta and Madiun [East Java],” he said.

“The brief has been handed over to the Defense Ministry and we are waiting for its approval,” Harry added.