The two units sold are the fifth and sixth of the seven PPAs ordered in 2015 from Fincantieri for the Italian Navy, which commissioned between 2022 and 2024 the first four buildings in the series (Paolo Thaon di Revel, Francesco Morosini, Raimondo Montecuccoli and Giovanni delle Bande Nere). Those to be transferred to Indonesia are the ex-Marcantonio Colonna and Ruggiero di Lauria, who were respectively renamed KRI Brawijaya and KRI Prabu Siliwangi. They also swapped their old red hull number for the white letter and number designator used by the Indonesian navy.
The new Indonesian PPA KRI Prabu Siliwangi, ex-Ruggiero di Lauria, on January 10 with his white hull number.
The Ruggiero di Lauria in November 2024 with its characteristic red hull number of the Italian Navy.
The purchase of two PPAs was announced in March 2024 by Jakarta, which planned to receive a first building in October. Both will finally be delivered in 2025, time to bring them up to the standards of their new owner and to carry out the training of the new crews. These units were launched in November 2022 and October 2023, the hulls being built by the Fincantieri shipyard in Riva Trigoso then completed at another site of the Italian manufacturer, that of Muggiano, in the bay of La Spezia. The Marcantonio Colonna began its sea trials in the summer of 2023 with a view to being delivered in October 2024 to the Marina Militare. A process which was therefore revised following the sale of this building and the Ruggiero di Lauria to Indonesia.
143 meters long with a width of 16.5 meters and a displacement of 6,200 tonnes under load, these “offshore patrol vessels”, which have the size and firepower of a frigate, adopt the “Light +” standard of the PPA. Their armament includes two Sylver A50 eight-fold vertical launchers for Aster 15 or Aster 30 surface-to-air missiles, a 127 mm turret and two 25 mm remotely operated cannons. The 76 mm turret initially installed on the roof of the hangar has, however, been unloaded, we can see in the latest photos of the ex-Ruggiero di Lauria. A location is also available, in front of the bridge, to be able to subsequently install eight Teseo anti-ship missiles. Capable of carrying up to two helicopters, these buildings can accommodate up to 173 personnel. Equipped with a SADOC combat direction system from Leonardo, which also provides the main sensors, including a main radar from the Kronos family with fixed panels, the Indonesian PPAs also retain their jammers, as can be seen in the KRI photos Prabu Siliwangi.
The seventh PPA ordered from Fincantieri, the Domenico Millelire (second unit of this type in full-option configuration after the Giovanni delle Bande Nere), was launched last July and must join the Italian Navy in 2026. Normally, as this was the case to replace the two multi-mission frigates (FREMM) which had been sold to Egypt, the sale of two buildings to Indonesia should normally result in the order of a new pair of PPPs by Italy.
On the occasion of the Euronaval show, which took place in November, Fincantieri unveiled a new version of this model, the PPA EVO, whose number of Sylver vertical launchers can be increased to eight (four at the front and four in the center), i.e. a capacity of 64 missiles. This new evolution of PPAs, offered for export, is equipped with new sensors and adapted for the implementation of aerial, surface and underwater drones.
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