Building sovereign maritime defense capability in an archipelagic state: A qualitative multiple case study of PT PAL, the KSOT autonomous submarine program, and the R41 modernization initiative in Indonesia

How does an archipelagic developing economy transition from foreign platform dependency to sovereign maritime defense capability? This study examines the contemporary transformation of Indonesia's maritime defense industrial base through a qualitative multiple-case study of three embedded cases nested within a single organizational and policy context: PT PAL Indonesia (2025) as the anchor of the national naval industrial cluster, the Kapal Selam Otonom (KSOT) autonomous submarine program, and the R41 fleet modernization initiative. Following Yin's (2018) multiple case study methodology and the resource-based view of competitive advantage (Barney, 1991; Wernerfelt, 1984) as the theoretical proposition, this study applies cross-case synthesis to documentary, observational, and triangulated open-source evidence collected between September 2024 and December 2025. Six themes emerged from the cross-case analysis: (a) selective foreign partnership as a strategic capability accelerator rather than a substitute for indigenous development; (b) tacit knowledge accumulation as the binding constraint on sovereign capability; (c) modular and software-defined integration as the locus of strategic value; (d) state ownership and industrial cluster governance as enabling but insufficient conditions; (e) human capital pipelines as the slow-maturing foundation of sustained capability; and (f) doctrinal coherence between platforms and operational concepts as a determinant of capability realization. This study contributes to the defense industrial base scholarship by articulating a context-sensitive model of sovereign capability transition in archipelagic developing economies, complementing dominant frameworks derived from advanced industrial democracies. The implications for Indonesian defense planners, industrial stakeholders, and the broader scholarly community studying middle-power defense industries are discussed.