August 17, 2030 – The Indonesian Navy commissions it’s most advanced combat ship, the KRI Nusantara today, on the 85th birthday of the country.

KRI Nusantara is a vessel designed for combat in Indonesia’s shallow coastal waters that surround the country’s 17,500+ islands, using advanced stealth technologies. The Nusantara uses a “double-M hull” design, which enables the craft to achieve a remarkably steady ride in rough seas at high speed.

The 192 meter long, 58 meter wide Nusantara will serve as a landing helicopter dock (LHD) and is fitted with a STOBAR (short take-off but arrested recovery)-flight deck and aircraft facilities to accommodate and operate up to 12 helicopters, or up to 50 Bayrakter TB-3 drones or a mix of these, depending on it’s mission profile and configuration.

The Nusantara is also envisioned as the centerpiece of a new strategy built around “netcentric” command and control capabilities and combat effectiveness of dozens of small ships operating cooperatively with other vessels, special warfare units and drones in the challenging littoral environment. Think of it as a stealthy floating supercomputer, mothership and command and control station that is capable of rocketing through the water at high-speeds in very shallow waters.

And the Nusantara can also be deployed for disaster relief in the event of a natural disaster, which frequently hits the South-East Asian archipelago. For that purpose, the Nusantara is equipped with four ER-rooms and a capacity for 50 - 100 hospital beds in a fully equipped hospital section. Its shallow draft allows the Nusantara to reach (remote- or inland) areas (where other large ships can’t go), to deliver medical- and humanitarian aid, water and food, SAR-equipment and other essential goods for disaster relief.

The Nusantara will start its sea trials next month and is expected to reach full operational capability with the Indonesian Navy by 2035.