Malaysia To Procure 3 Littoral Mission Ships Based on Ada (MİLGEM) Class Corvettes From Turkey
Military cooperation between Turkey and Malaysia continues to increase day by day. The two countries, which had previously agreed on the modernization of military aircraft, the supply of unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles for different purposes, have now shaken hands on the construction of corvettes. The Malaysian Ministry of Defense has chosen STM Defense Technologies Engineering and Trade, Turkey’s leading maritime company, for the construction of three corvettes within the scope of the Royal Navy (RMN) LMS Batch-2 program. The signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding between Malaysia and Türkiye was held on June 10 at the Turkish Defense Industry Agency’s campus in Ankara. The ceremony was attended by Malaysian Minister of Defense Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Turkish Defense Industry Agency President Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün, STM Chairman Prof. Dr. İhsan Kaya, STM General Manager Özgür Güleryüz, representatives from the Malaysian Ministry of Defense, and managers of Turkish defense industry companies.
Speaking at the ceremony, Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin stated: “I believe that the signing of this MoU will bring benefit to both countries, especially to Malaysia, because the Republic of Turkiye is a sophisticated military powerhouse today, with excellent defence technology, and is one of the most advanced military manufacturing nations in West Asia. It is a very historical moment because on today’s occasion, we will be witnessing the handing over ceremony of the Letter of Acceptance of our Littoral Mission Ship (LMS), Batch 2, with STM. Congratulations to STM. We will be purchasing three LMS on this occasion. So when we sign that MoU today, we will give you the LOA for the purchase of the LMS. So that is why it is also a very historic moment, because the letter of acceptance means that today we will start to build, by Turkiye, by STM, our three LMS. I wish all the best to all parties, to SSB, to STM.”
Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün, President of the Turkish Defense Industry Agency, expressed his belief that the LMS Batch 2 Project is just the beginning of a long-term cooperation between the two countries on naval platforms and added: “The successful execution of this project will undoubtedly position Turkish defense industry companies as indispensable partners in the Royal Malaysian Navy’s ’15 to 5 Transformation Program’ thereby strengthening our defense capabilities and fortifying our mutual interests. STM, as the main contractor, will be responsible for all phases of the Littoral Mission Ship Project for the Royal Malaysian Navy, from design and construction to delivery. I would like to extend my gratitude to the STM Management and their team for their dedication to this project.”
STM will be the main contractor responsible for all stages of the construction of three corvettes that will strengthen the Malaysian Navy as part of the LMS Batch 2 Project. The construction of three ships based on the Ada (MİLGEM) class corvettes, which have been in service with the Turkish Naval Forces since 2011, will be carried out in Turkey, with approximately 50 local companies contributing, including ASELSAN, HAVELSAN, and ROKETSAN. The company, which is currently building ships based on Ada class corvettes for the Pakistani and Ukrainian Navy, will begin work on Malaysia’s order this year and will deliver all three ships to the Malaysian Navy within 3.5 years.
According to STM, the Malaysian ships, which will differ from the classic Ada corvettes in terms of structure and equipment, will have a total length of 99.56 meters, a maximum width of 14.42 meters, a draft of 3.94 meters and a displacement of approximately 2500 tons. These corvettes, powered by four diesel engines in a combined diesel and diesel (CODAD) configuration and propelled by two controllable propellers, will have a maximum speed of 26 knots, a cruising speed of 14 knots, and a range of more than 4000 nautical miles. Designed to fully support 111 personnel, including officers, crew and guests, these corvettes will also feature a hangar with HELO Deck for medium-sized helicopters and refueling facilities.
To effectively meet and neutralize threats, the corvettes are outfitted with a 76 mm main gun, two sets of four surface-to-surface missile (SSM) launchers, a second 30mm gun, two sets of surface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers with a total of 16 missiles and a decoy launcher system (DLS) with two launchers. Among the Sensor, Navigation and Communication packages to be included on the ship are a Combat Management System (CMS), a 3D surveillance radar with helicopter control capability, an IFF system integrated with the 3D radar, a fire control radar with an EO package, and a weapon fire control system embedded in the CMS, two target designation binoculars (TDS), a C-ESM system, an R-ESM system (2-18 GHz) with ELINT capabilities, a tactical data link system (LINK-Y), two fiber optic INS, two X-band navigation radars, a wind and meteorological system, WAIS, three WECDIS, two GNSS, a voyage data recorder and an echosounder.