Indonesian president watches failed firings of Chinese-made C-705 missiles at naval exercise Ridzwan Rahmat, Singapore - IHS Jane's Navy International

Naval Weapons

Indonesian president watches failed firings of Chinese-made C-705 missiles at naval exercise

Ridzwan Rahmat, Singapore - IHS Jane's Navy International 

16 September 2016

   

The Indonesian Navy's KCR-40 missile attack craft, KRI Clurit, which failed to successfully fire a C-705 missile at the 'Armada Jaya' 2016 exercise on 14 September. Source: TNI-AL

Key Points

• Attempts to launch C-705 missiles from two Indonesian warships during an exercise has failed
• Failures come against the backdrop of increased spending on Chinese-made weapon systems by Jakarta

The Indonesian Navy's (Tentara Nasional Indonesia - Angkatan Laut, or TNI-AL's) attempt to successfully launch Chinese-made C-705 anti-ship missiles from two indigenously built attack craft during a major naval exercise has failed, sources from within the service informed IHS Jane's on 15 September.

The missiles, which were deployed onboard the KCR-40-class missile attack craft KRI Clurit (641) and KRI Kujang (642), each failed at different stages of their launches on 14 September.

Clurit and Kujang each fired a single C-705 missile during Exercise 'Armada Jaya' 2016 which was conducted in the Java Sea.

Both attempts were made in full view of Indonesian President Joko Widodo who was there to witness the exercise from onboard the landing platform dock ship KRI Banjarmasin (592). Accompanying him was TNI-AL chief Admiral Ade Supandi, and Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) chief General Gatot Nurmantyo.

According to TNI-AL sources, the first C-705 deployed on Clurit failed to launch upon command, but fired unexpectedly about five minutes later after the ship's crew failed to observe a misfire procedure.

The missile failed to hit its designated target for the exercise, the recently decommissioned Tisza-class auxiliary support ship, Karimata (960). The second C-705 missile, which was fired from Kujang , failed during mid-flight, and subsequently also failed to hit the same target.

Besides Clurit and Kujang , 'Armada Jaya' also involves the participation of about 7,000 TNI personnel and 39 naval vessels including a Cakra Type 209/1300-class diesel-electric submarine (SSK).

Other TNI-AL weapons that will be tested during the exercise, that runs until the end of September 2016, include the C-802 anti-ship missile that has also been acquired from China.