PARIS - The Indonesian Navy has signed a contract to buy two Scorpene submarines made by the French state-owned shipyard Naval Group, the company said on Tuesday on its website.
The value of the contract was not disclosed.
The two 72-metre submarines will be built in Indonesia, which has recently signed other major arms supplies with French companies, Naval Group said in a statement. The Asian country ordered 42 Dassault-made Rafale fighter jets in 2022.
The 31-crew Scorpene submarines have six launch pads, a capacity of 18 torpedoes and missiles and 12-day underwater autonomy, according to the company.
Malaysia currently has two Scorpene submarines, acquired in 2009 and 2010 and based at the Sepanggar naval base in Sabah. They were bought in a deal amounting to US$1.2 billion.
Naval Group is also hoping to supply two Scorpene-class submarines to the Philippines, which said in February that it is seeking to bolster its maritime defences to counter Chinese aggression in the disputed South China Sea.
The defence partnership between France and Indonesia is part of what Paris views as its response in the Indo-Pacific region to a new strategic alliance between the United States, Britain and Australia called Aukus, which was established in 2021.