talian shipbuilder Fincantieri and Indonesia's state-owned shipyard PT PAL have agreed to jointly modernize the Indonesian Navy's first aircraft carrier, a hand-me-down from Italy whose refit bill could reach $900 million.
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding on September 28. The vessel, now named KRI Sriwijaya, was formerly the Italian Navy's ITS Giuseppe Garibaldi, and Rome transferred it to Jakarta at no charge.
Italian Designer and Surabaya Shipyard Split the Work
Under the agreement, Fincantieri, which designed and built the ship, will contribute its knowledge of the hull and platform. PT PAL, based in Surabaya, will bring its shipbuilding, systems integration, maintenance and support expertise.
The partners will jointly shape the direction of the upgrade. Italian technical support is also meant to build up Indonesia's domestic shipbuilding capacity and its wider defense industry.
"This agreement reflects the strong and steadily growing relationship between Italy and Indonesia in the naval and defense sectors," Fincantieri CEO Pierroberto Folgiero said. It is not the first deal between the two sides. In March, the Indonesian Navy took delivery of a new Fincantieri-built patrol vessel, KRI Prabu Siliwangi 321.
A 1985 Light Carrier Built for Harrier Jets
Fincantieri built the Garibaldi at its Monfalcone shipyard and delivered it to the Italian Navy in 1985. The ship was retired in 2024, after about four decades of service.
It is a light carrier with a short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) deck, 180 meters long and displacing 13,850 tons fully loaded. Its top speed is 30 knots, or about 55.5 kilometers per hour. With the transfer, Indonesia becomes the second Southeast Asian navy to operate a carrier, after Thailand's HTMS Chakri Naruebet.
Disaster Relief Takes Priority Over Combat Role
Jakarta does not plan to use the ship mainly as a warfighting platform. The Indonesian Navy intends to deploy it for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief across the archipelago, where earthquakes, floods and forest fires are recurring threats.
The ship can host up to 10 medium-sized helicopters, according to Asian Military Review, and gCaptain reports it could operate helicopters and drones used in disaster response, including firefighting. The navy plans to operate the ship for 15 to 20 years from a base in Lampung province, gCaptain reported.
Refit Estimate Now Double the Budgeted Amount
Indonesia's Finance Ministry has allocated about $450 million for the project. Estimates cited by the state news agency Antara and by Indonesian lawmakers put the actual retrofit and modernization cost at about $900 million, while one industry outlet gives a wider range of $378 million to $909 million.
Military analysts had warned before the handover that an aging hull would need extensive work to take on any serious role. That leaves Indonesia, which has signed a string of arms deals over the past year, with a heavier burden on already tight public finances.
The spending could also crowd out purchases of newer, higher-priority naval vessels and complicate planning for the fleet as a whole.
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