Tank Boat: A Look At Indonesia's Impressive Military Combat Vehicle
Indonesia has an interesting geographical defense quandary on its hands. It has a lot of islands in the archipelago, around 14,700 as recognized by the United Nations and over 18,100 by Indonesia's count. Regardless of who is counting, thousands of islands are a lot to protect. Plus, it has about 33,999 miles of coastline. To counter this, Indonesia takes its coast guard and naval forces very seriously.
To defend those waterways, Indonesian forces have developed Antasena Tank Boat. As the name suggests, it has the bottom half of a boat and the top half of a tank. The name itself may be a little reductionist as it appears to be a relatively advanced maritime patrol vessel, albeit one with a little more firepower than your average boat, while not being a full-scale battleship. The tank boat has been in testing and trials since at least 2021 and is produced by North Sea Boats (also called PT Lundin) based out of the island of East Java in Indonesia. It has two distinct variations: the "tank" variant with a large cannon, and another slightly longer troop transport version with a smaller turret.
Indonesia's maritime patrol vessel
The six-person crew "tank" variation of the Tank Boat consists of a Cockerill 105-millimeter cannon on a rotating turret capable of launching anti-tank missiles and conventional 105-millimeter shells. It's not quite the firepower seen on an M1 Abrams tank or a Leopard 2, but it's no slouch. The five-person crew troop transport model is armed with a Northrup Grumman Mk44 30-millimeter cannon. Power is supplied by two 1,700 horsepower V12 diesel engines supplied by MTU, a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce. Those engines reportedly allow the vessel to reach a top speed of 40 knots. Both versions are twin-hull catamarans with the tank variant measuring just under 60 feet long and the troop transport vessel measuring at just over 61 feet long. It can hold upwards of 60 soldiers in the troop transport spec, and 20 troops in the tank version. The vessel contains all manner of modern radar equipment, radio communication devices, autopilot, and a weather station.
Notably, although the craft is designed and produced in Indonesia, the guns and engines come from Western countries, with the Cockerill gun system from Belgium and the MTU powerplant from Germany. Even the armor is listed as STANAG-compliant, a standard used by NATO countries. In the past, Indonesia has relied on Chinese and Russian equipment for its military.
It's yet to be seen how the vessel will be used in combat, and it will reportedly act in patrolling Indonesia's many islands. Piracy remains an issue in the country, and naval forces have had to deal with Chinese fishing and military vessels encroaching into its territory, according to the CIA.