Indonesia validates post-upgrade missile capabilities of Bung Tomo frigate

An Exocet MM40 Block 3 missile launched from KRI John Lie in the Java Sea on 31 July. (Indonesian Navy Armada I)

The Indonesian Navy has marked the first firing of an Exocet MM40 Block 3 missile from a Bung Tomo-class frigate, validating the upgrade works that have been carried out on the ship.

The firing was carried out by second-of-class KRI John Lie as part of a sinking exercise (SINKEX) in the Java Sea on 31 July. The exercise involved three other Indonesian Navy warships and two Indonesian Air Force F-16 aircraft.

The F-16s deployed four M117/MK-12 general-purpose bombs against the SINKEX target, a decommissioned Ahmad Yani-class frigate that was in service as KRI Slamet Riyadi . The ship was retired in August 2019 after 33 years in service with the Indonesian Navy.

Also striking the ship during the exercise was a C-705 anti-ship missile deployed from second-of-class KCR-60M attack craft KRI Tombak and a C-802 anti-surface munition launched from another Ahmad Yani-class frigate, KRI Yos Sudarso .

A representative from the Indonesian Navy's Armada I told Janes the firing validates the functions of the newly installed fire-control and combat management systems on John Lie .

The Block 3 variant of the Exocet missile can achieve a longer effective range, given its ability to strike targets as far as 108 n mile away. The MM40 Block 2's maximum range is 40.5 n mile.

The Bung Tomo class has demonstrated its ability to deploy the Block 2 variant of the missile in past SINKEXs, the earliest of which took place in 2015.

Besides John Lie