Malaysia plans to arm Kedah-class offshore patrol vessels with Naval Strike Missile

 

The Kedah-class OPV KD Pahang (172) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Photo c/o Wikimedia Commons.

Plans have been made for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) to allocate budget worth around MYR214 million (US$48 million) to arm at least two Kedah-class offshore patrol vessels with the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM) anti-ship missiles.

According to defense media outlet Janes, the RMN has proposed a three-part procurement project under its “Rolling Plan 4” funding under 2024 budget, covered as part of the 12th Malaysia Plan from years 2021 to 2025. 

The Kedah-class OPVs are based on the MEKO 100RMN design from German shipbuilder Blohm+Voss and built in Malaysia by Penang Shipbuilding Corporation (now Boustead Naval Shipyard) under a technology transfer agreement between Germany and Malaysia.

These ships were commissioned in service with the RMN from June 2006 and December 2010, and are currently armed with an Oto Melara 76mm naval gun, a Breda-Mauser 30mm secondary gun, and manually operated 12.7mm heavy machine guns.

The Kedah-class were originally planned to be equipped with four anti-ship missile launchers and a RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launcher short-range close-in weapon system (CIWS), but these plans did not push through although the ship’s design allowed for these equipment to be “fitted for but not with”.

All six ships of the class are currently assigned with the RMN’s Eastern Fleet based at the Sepanggar Naval Base in Sabah, and are used to conduct surveillance and maritime patrols in Eastern Malaysia waters and exclusive economic zone, including the highly-contested waters of the South China Sea.

The selection of the Naval Strike Missile is probably related to the RMN’s decision for its use as the primary anti-ship weapon of its future Maharaja Lela-class littoral combat ships / frigates.

[1] Janes

[2] The Vibes