Indonesia’s 2 Frigates Get SeaEagle: £3M Fire-Control Contract Signed

UK-based Chess Dynamics has won a new order worth roughly £3 million (about $3.8 million) from Indonesian state defence electronics firm PT Len Industri to supply SeaEagle fire-control electro-optical systems for two Bung Tomo-class frigates. The contract was announced on October 28.

The order covers the Indonesian Navy’s (TNI AL) two remaining Bung Tomo-class vessels, KRI Bung Tomo (357) and KRI John Lie (358). The lead ship of the class, KRI Usman Harun (359), was covered by an earlier SeaEagle order placed in 2023.

What the SeaEagle system actually does

The SeaEagle fire-control electro-optical (FCEO) system replaces the ships’ legacy electro-optical fire-control equipment and integrates directly with the 76mm OTO Melara naval gun. It also interfaces with the upgraded Thales TACTICOS combat management system aboard each vessel.

On KRI Usman Harun, the SeaEagle unit is mounted in an elevated position on the aft superstructure, in the spot previously occupied by the BAE Insyte 1802SW radar tracker. Conversion work is being carried out at PT PAL’s Surabaya shipyard, with Dutch firm Nevesbu providing integration engineering and yard support.

A modernization program running since 2020

PT Len and Thales signed the original contract for KRI Usman Harun’s combat-system modernization back in 2020, covering the TACTICOS combat management system, the SMART-S Mk2 air-and-surface surveillance radar, the STIR EO Mk2 fire-control system and the Vigile Mk2 electronic-support measures suite.

The Usman Harun upgrade was originally meant to be finished by the end of 2023, but the work has taken considerably longer. In November 2025 the program was expanded to also cover Bung Tomo and John Lie, and this new order now completes the class-wide SeaEagle rollout across all three ships.

Chess Dynamics’ push into Southeast Asia

Chess Dynamics says the award reflects the company’s growing focus on Southeast Asia and the broader Asia-Pacific region, where it has supported naval programs for more than 15 years, including in Thailand and Malaysia.

The firm also works with Owen International in Australia to provide maintenance, repair and upgrade support for SeaEagle systems in the region — a model that effectively extends its customer relationship well beyond the original equipment sale.

Three ships converging on one combat-system standard

According to Naval News, the order moves all three upgraded frigates toward a standardized combat-system configuration, even though the three contracts were signed years apart and for different hulls. That convergence means the Indonesian Navy will eventually operate a fully harmonized sensor and weapons suite across the entire Bung Tomo class.

For Indonesia, the step is part of a broader effort to extend the operational life of corvettes originally procured from the UK in the 1990s by fitting them with current sensor and combat-management technology rather than replacing the hulls outright.

The Bung Tomo class’s unusual origin story

The three Bung Tomo-class corvettes were originally built in Britain for Brunei, but were never taken into Brunei service due to a pre-delivery political dispute between the two governments. Indonesia purchased the three completed hulls in 2013-2014 and refitted them to match its own operational requirements.

That history helps explain why, more than a decade later, the ships still require a substantial sensor and combat-system overhaul: the platforms were originally designed around a different navy’s specifications before being adapted into Indonesia’s own doctrine and supply chain.

A modest deal that illustrates a wider regional pattern

At roughly £3 million, this contract is small compared with major platform acquisitions, but it is a clear example of how Southeast Asian navies are modernizing existing hulls through incremental, staged contracts rather than new-build programs. For fleets looking to stretch existing budgets, upgrading sensors and fire-control on in-service ships is often far cheaper and faster than commissioning new vessels.

Sources

• Naval News, “Chess Dynamics Wins £3M Contract for Indonesian Bung Tomo-Class Frigates”, October 31, 2026 — navalnews.com (used for contract details, technical scope and timeline).