Beatmaster
New Member
I did read this on the internet:
New Dutch weapons sale to Indonesia
Dutch ship builder the Schelde is going to help Indonesia build a new series of naval corvettes. This was made public with only a few lines in a regional newspaper from the wharf area. (1)
According to the regional newspaper, a series of 24 war ships will be build. It is a follow-up order to the construction of four naval corvettes, of which two have already sailed to Indonesia. “The ambition is to hand over the construction capabilities to the ship wharf of the Indonesian state”, the CEO of De Schelde in Flushing stated.
Reservations on the news however have to be made. Originally it was planned that two of the presently build corvettes, would be constructed at PT Pal, the Indonesian wharf which was meant by Van Ameijden. But instead of that, all ships were build in Flushing. Secondly the big number of planned ships reminds one of a similar wish list in the eighties. This plan ended without being materialized. But if the plans unfold as stated by Van Ameijden it will be an enormous order, militarily as well as financially.
Not only the will the shipyard be making huge profits on this deal, but also other companies, especially Thales Netherlands, producer of military electronics. Each ship will be fitted with fire control, radar and combat systems from Thales NI for at least ten million euros. This expectation is based on the example of smaller ships of the Dagger, Singa and Todak-class (2) built earlier at PT Pal. It seems that PT Pal has a good relationship with Dutch producers of military technology.
Recently it became public that the Dutch budget for Export Credit Financing transactions with Indonesia was expanded with some newly invented swap mechanisms.(3) In this way Thales could get the financial backing for the export of military equipment (4) for the formerly mentioned first four corvettes. The equipment is meant to upgrade the ships to operate with more strength in international maritime conflicts.
There is a reason for this favoured position of Indonesia in Dutch arms export promotion policies. Until recently Indonesia was the only customer for Dutch major naval vessels, although Morocco recently also became a buyer (5). Naval vessels are among the most costly weapon systems existing. One can assume that the massage of Indonesian political decision makers by Dutch officials and industry has already started to get this order confirmed. The expansion of Dutch financing possibilities for export to Indonesia probably should be seen in this light.
The Netherlands is consolidating its position in among the top-10 weapons exporting countries and its global arms exports market share of 3% with ease, because of this kind of deal.(6) Only Russia, the US, France, Germany and the UK are performing ‘better’. In 2007 the Netherlands ranked fifth after: the US, Russia, Germany and France, but in advance of the United Kingdom.(7)
I did read a few months ago a topic where some guys said that the Dutch Defence Industry is just a joke, but what i like to know is what part or role are the dutch playing on a global scale?
I mean what are the dutch capable off to build? are there any systems that are pure dutch? and how good is this stuff compared against US and Eastern industry standarts?
New Dutch weapons sale to Indonesia
Dutch ship builder the Schelde is going to help Indonesia build a new series of naval corvettes. This was made public with only a few lines in a regional newspaper from the wharf area. (1)
According to the regional newspaper, a series of 24 war ships will be build. It is a follow-up order to the construction of four naval corvettes, of which two have already sailed to Indonesia. “The ambition is to hand over the construction capabilities to the ship wharf of the Indonesian state”, the CEO of De Schelde in Flushing stated.
Reservations on the news however have to be made. Originally it was planned that two of the presently build corvettes, would be constructed at PT Pal, the Indonesian wharf which was meant by Van Ameijden. But instead of that, all ships were build in Flushing. Secondly the big number of planned ships reminds one of a similar wish list in the eighties. This plan ended without being materialized. But if the plans unfold as stated by Van Ameijden it will be an enormous order, militarily as well as financially.
Not only the will the shipyard be making huge profits on this deal, but also other companies, especially Thales Netherlands, producer of military electronics. Each ship will be fitted with fire control, radar and combat systems from Thales NI for at least ten million euros. This expectation is based on the example of smaller ships of the Dagger, Singa and Todak-class (2) built earlier at PT Pal. It seems that PT Pal has a good relationship with Dutch producers of military technology.
Recently it became public that the Dutch budget for Export Credit Financing transactions with Indonesia was expanded with some newly invented swap mechanisms.(3) In this way Thales could get the financial backing for the export of military equipment (4) for the formerly mentioned first four corvettes. The equipment is meant to upgrade the ships to operate with more strength in international maritime conflicts.
There is a reason for this favoured position of Indonesia in Dutch arms export promotion policies. Until recently Indonesia was the only customer for Dutch major naval vessels, although Morocco recently also became a buyer (5). Naval vessels are among the most costly weapon systems existing. One can assume that the massage of Indonesian political decision makers by Dutch officials and industry has already started to get this order confirmed. The expansion of Dutch financing possibilities for export to Indonesia probably should be seen in this light.
The Netherlands is consolidating its position in among the top-10 weapons exporting countries and its global arms exports market share of 3% with ease, because of this kind of deal.(6) Only Russia, the US, France, Germany and the UK are performing ‘better’. In 2007 the Netherlands ranked fifth after: the US, Russia, Germany and France, but in advance of the United Kingdom.(7)
I did read a few months ago a topic where some guys said that the Dutch Defence Industry is just a joke, but what i like to know is what part or role are the dutch playing on a global scale?
I mean what are the dutch capable off to build? are there any systems that are pure dutch? and how good is this stuff compared against US and Eastern industry standarts?
thats a bit more then i did give them credit for