Babcock has secured its first tasking under the UK–Indonesia Maritime Partnership Programme (MPP), a £4 billion ($5.3 billion) initiative aimed at strengthening bilateral naval cooperation and shipbuilding capabilities.
Introduced in November 2025, the MPP enables Indonesia to build naval and fishing vessels locally while drawing on UK ship design expertise and industrial support.
Under the programme, Babcock, acting as the lead industrial partner, will provide Indonesia with licenses for two Arrowhead 140 frigates in the near term. The award builds on two Arrowhead 140 licenses transferred in 2021, which allowed PT PAL to commence construction of the Merah Putih-class frigates.
The first ship of the class, KRI Balaputradewa (322), was launched in December 2025, and construction of the second vessel is currently underway. In January 2026, Indonesia and the UK signed a letter of intent for licenses covering two more frigates, bringing the total planned Merah Putih-class fleet to four ships.
Optimized for multi-role and multi-domain warfare, the Arrowhead 140 design supports anti-air, anti-surface, and anti-submarine operations, as well as electronic warfare, naval gunfire support, and air defense missions.
The frigate is 140 meters long with a beam of 19.8 meters and displaces approximately 6,000 tonnes. A CODAD propulsion arrangement enables the ship to achieve top speeds of around 28 knots.
