Indonesia takes over the retired Italian aircraft carrier "Garibaldi" and renames it "Srivijaya" to undergo modernization and modifications

The Indonesian Navy has taken over the former Italian aircraft carrier USS Garibaldi and renamed it "Srivijaya" for modernization.

The retired aircraft carrier "Giuseppe Garibaldi" of the Italian Navy has started a "second life" and even changed its name. Fincantieri, a major Italian shipbuilding company, recently announced that it has signed a memorandum of cooperation with PT PAL Indonesia, a national shipbuilding company in Indonesia, to jointly promote the modernization and upgrade of this aircraft carrier. After the ship was handed over to Indonesia, it was renamed "KRI SRIWIJAYA" and became part of the Indonesian Navy's next-generation large-scale maritime combat platform.

The foreign military news website "Navy News" reported that Fincantieri stated that the "Sanvijaya" was originally the "Garibaldi" of the Italian Navy. It was built by Fincantieri's shipyard in Monfalcone. It was delivered to the Italian Navy in 1985 and was initially positioned as an aviation cruiser. Later, it has been responsible for carrier-based aircraft, helicopter operations and other tasks for a long time. It is a de facto aircraft carrier.

Fincantieri and PT PAL Indonesia are working together to modernize and upgrade the ship for the handover. According to the latest agreement between the two parties, Fincantieri will use its technical experience as the original designer and builder to jointly plan the scope of the ship's modernization and upgrade with PT PAL. PT PAL will be responsible for leveraging local shipbuilding, system integration, maintenance and logistics support capabilities. After the upgrade is completed, the ship is expected to perform diverse tasks such as maritime security, national defense, humanitarian rescue and emergency response.

It is worth noting that Indonesia has continued to expand its procurement of advanced warships from Italy in recent years. It has previously received two PPA multi-purpose frigates, "KRI BRAWIJAYA-320" and "KRI PRABU SILIWANGI-321". Now it has added new aircraft into its combat force, which shows that the cooperation between the navies and defense industries of the two sides continues to heat up.

Fincantieri pointed out that this cooperation will not only extend the life of the old warship, but also introduce more advanced technology and local industrial energy, so that this former Italian aircraft carrier, which has been in service for more than 40 years, will continue to serve under the name "Sanvijay".

"Garibaldi" was named after the Italian national hero who was a key figure in the Italian unification movement in the 19th century. Many warships of the Italian Navy have been named after him. After the ship was transferred to Indonesia, it was renamed "Sriwijaya". The name comes from the former Sriwijaya maritime empire with Sumatra as its core, symbolizing Indonesia's long maritime tradition and glory of sea power.