Malaysia's fourth and final Keris-class Littoral Mission Ship launched by Chinese shipbuilder

 

The 4th Keris-class LMS launched in China on 16 December 2020. Photo c/o RMN through Jane's.

The fourth and final Keris-class Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) for the Royal Malaysia Navy (RMN) has been launched by Chinese shipbuilder Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group, during ceremonies held on 16 December 2020 at the company's shipyard in Wuhan, China.


The ship, which is unnamed yet although has the hull number 114, is expected that the new ship would undergo a series of port acceptance tests and sea trials, and is expected to be handed-over to the RMN by November 2021.

Four (4) Keris-class LMS will be assigned with the RMN's 11st LMS Squadron based in Sepanggar Naval Base in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. 

Currently, only the lead ship of the class, the KD Keris (111) is in service with the RMN, while the second ship of the class, the Sundang (112) is expected to enter service in 2021.

The RMN's 4 Littoral Mission Ships were ordered by the Malaysian government from China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Corporation in 2017.

Originally, the last two ships were suppose to be built in Malaysia by Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) under a technology transfer agreement, but the plan was shelved after cost cutting measures were made by the government.

The Keris-class are 68 meters long, 9.20 meters wide, has a maximum speed of 22 knots and a maximum range of 2,000 nautical miles at 16 knots.

The are equipped with Chinese-made sensors and weapon systems including one 30mm CS/AN3 naval gun and two CS/LM6 12.7mm heavy machine guns, the SR2405A air and surface search radar, and OFC-3 electro-optical tracking system (EOTS).



[1] Jane's
[2] Asia Pacific Defense Journal

Malaysia's fourth and final Keris-class Littoral Mission Ship launched by Chinese shipbuilder Malaysia's fourth and final Keris-class Littoral Mission Ship launched by Chinese shipbuilder Reviewed by Asia Pacific Defense Journal on December 27, 2020 Rating: 5

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