For a country made up of around 18,000 islands, a formidable navy is needed. Indonesia is the largest archipelago state in the world, the 14th largest country by land area and home to one of the most powerful navies in the world. (Find out if Indonesia is also among the country with the greatest military power.)

The main purpose of the navy is to patrol the long coastline as well as enforce and patrol Indonesia’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone. At the same time, the Indonesian Navy, like all other navies, is supposed to protect maritime strategic interests and all islands from maritime threats.

The composition of the Indonesian Navy is reflected in its terms of reference. A large majority of its vessels are offshore patrol vessels, representing 69% of the fleet. Other than that, frigates and corvettes still make up 22% of the fleet.

To identify the 35 ship classes that make up the Indonesian Navy’s ships and submarines, 24/7 Wall St. referenced the military data site World Directory of Modern Military Warships‘ information about vessels active in the Indonesian Navy. Classes of ships and submarines are ranked in order of the number of ships currently in use by the navy, according to WDMMW. All ships on order have been excluded.

According to WDMMW, Indonesia ranks as the fourth strongest navies on the planet behind the United States, China and Russia, respectively. (Here is all 19 classes of ships and submarines in the US naval fleet.)

The Indonesian Navy currently has 242 units in its active naval inventory. This total includes vessels commissioned from the front line, but excludes small patrol vessels, auxiliary survey vessels, supply and historical ceremonial types.

Here is an overview of the Indonesian Navy: