Defense Technology International - March 2008 - (Page 27)

FULL STEAM AHEAD Malaysia speeds ﬂeet upgrade to meet long-term goals ANDY NATIVI•LANGKAWI, MALAYSIA alaysia is accelerating the modernization of its maritime forces with a combination of new shipbuilding programs and upgrades for in-service platforms. Along with a ﬂeet expansion and thousands of extra personnel, the investment in ships is part of an e ort to complete the navy’s Future Fleet plan by 2020. The main e ort is focused on a program to acquire two Lekiu-class Batch 2 frigates. Malaysia has already signed a memorandum of understanding with BAE Systems, but so far a contract to build the ships, valued at approximately £700 million ($1.35 billion), is still pending due to protracted negotiations on local industry involvement and o sets. The first frigate will not be commissioned before 2012. The Batch 2 ships will be more heavily armed than the original pair in the class (commissioned in 1999), as they will likely carry a local air-defense system based on Raytheon’s Evolved SeaSparrow Missile and six twin Mk 56 vertical launchers. The frigates also will have MM40 Exocet anti-ship missiles from MBDA, and possibly an Oto Melara 76-mm. gun in place of the Bofors 57-mm. gun from BAE Systems on the older ships. There will also be a hangar to accommodate an AgustaWestland Super Lynx naval helicopter, of which Malaysia has six. The sensor suite is expected to include Thales’s latest Smart-S Mk 2 volume search radar and Captas Nano towed array sonar. The navy would eventually like to acquire two more frigates. The general plan is to reduce the number of ship types in service, but increase the vessels in each class to at least six. Funding for the third pair, however, will not be available before 2011. After lengthy delays and troubles with local shipbuilder LSE, which has been nationalized and recapitalized, the Kedah-class o shore patrol vessel program, based on the German-designed Meko 100 ship type, is ﬁnally proceeding. The AviationWeek.com/dti M ﬁrst two ships were launched by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems in Hamburg, Germany, in 2003, but commissioned in 2006. The third and fourth were launched in Malaysia in November and December 2007—two years late—and should be commissioned by the end of 2009. The original plan called for as many as 27 Kedah-class ships, but only two to three multi-role support ships of between 8,000 and 15,000 tons. These are to be funded as joint defense assets, since they are also intended to support the army’s rapid reaction force. These ships will be landing platform dock or landing platform helicopter vessels. The program has slipped to the right and is to re-emerge under the next ﬁve-year plan (2010-15). The navy has launched three service-life-extension and modernization programs for in-service units, namely the four Mahamiru-class minehunters built by Italy’s Intermarine in the midANDY NATIVI/DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL Model of a Batch 2 Lekiu-class missile frigate. Malaysia plans to order two, and possibly four, in a ﬂeet modernization program. more are scheduled with possibly four to follow later. The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency reportedly has an interest in patrol ships of this type. Malaysia is completing the procurement of two DCNS-built Scorpene submarines, with the lead unit to be delivered this year and the second planned for 2009. This is a $1-billion program that includes crew training on a leased French navy Agosta-class boat and construction of a naval base. Malaysia plans to order another two or three improved Scorpene submarines, but these will not arrive before 2018. Funding will be allocated in the 2016-20 ﬁve-year plan. Malaysia also wants to procure up 1980s; two Kasturi-class Type FS 1500 light frigates, built by HDW of Germany and commissioned in 1984; and four Laksamana-class fast missile craft that were built for Iraq by Italy’s Fincantieri in the 1980s, and taken over by Malaysia in 1996 (DTI March 2007, p. 14). The upgrades will be comprehensive for the FS 1500s, while for the Laksamanas there may be just a main radar replacement. The priority, however, is the minehunters, which are to remain in service until at least 2020. The navy is also looking at procuring two replenishment ships, an oceanographic vessel and at least one tanklanding ship. I 27 MARCH 2008 DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL http://www.aviationweek.com/dti

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Defense Technology International - March 2008 Contents Sweden Cancels SEP; Israel Launches Imaging Satellite; Geotextiles Secure Ammo Dump U.S. Navy Taps Neural Architecture Software to Assure Job Satisfaction Shrapnel-Like Pieces of Reactive Materials Increase Explosive Force of Bombs Technology is Rapidly Closing the Gap Between Sensors and Shooters Italian Army Program Aims to Develop a Fully Networked Land Force Political and Military Uncertainties Plague U.S. Defense Budget Democrats Put Pentagon on Notice Over Spending and Policy at DTAR Conference Russian Combat Vehicle Protects Tank Formations from Anti-Armor Weapons European Battlelabs Use Simulation to Verify Technologies and Stretch Defense Funds Malaysia Accelerates Fleet Modernization to meet Long-Term Goals U.S. Navy Says Composite Raiding Boat May Reduce Injuries From Wave Shocks Seeing Isn’t Believing When it Comes to Deciphering Funds for Secret Projects Advances in Sensors and Propulsion Make Torpedoes Ever More Lethal FAA is in No Rush to Approve Rules that Let UAVs Fly in Civil Airspace USS Truman Carrier Strike Group Patrols a Rough Neighborhood 24/7 U.S. says Sino-Russian Space Disarmament Plan is Riddled with Pitfalls Hyperspeed Projectile; “Sound Cloak” Hides Subs; Improving Nuclear Forensics Dutch Air Commodore Theo ten Haaf Analyzes the Impact of Rotary-Wing Operations One Soldier’s War is a Behind-the-Headlines Look at Russia’s Campaigns in Chechnya Black Budgets are Huge and Growing, and Often Conceal Amazing Failures

Defense Technology International - March 2008

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