Keel Laying Ceremony held for first Malaysian LMS Batch 2

 

RMN officials attend the Keel Laying Ceremony od first LMS Batch 2 ship. Photo c/o RMN.

Turkish defense company Savunama Teknolojileri Muhendislik  (STM) held the Keel Laying Ceremony for the first of three new Littoral Mission Ship Batch 2 being built for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) on 08 April 2025 at the Istanbul Shipyard in Türkiye.

Present during the ceremony were the RMN’s Chief of Navy Admiral Datuk Zulhelmy bin Ithnain, the Secretary-General of the Malaysian Ministry of Defence Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali, and STM’s Deputy General Manager Mr. Bulent Soydal.

Prior to the ceremony, the Ministry of Defence and STM held a Project Monitoring Committee Meeting on 7 April 2025, which presented updates on the progress of all three ships.

The Keel Laying Ceremony follows the Steel Cutting Ceremony for the ship which was held on 4 December 2024 signalling the start of the ship’s construction phase.

According to reports, the first ship is expected to be launched by mid-2026 and delivered to the RMN by end of 2027.

The Littoral Mission Ship Batch 2 are based on the Ada-class corvettes of the Turkish Navy, and features stealthy hull design. It will displace at around 2,500 tons, with a length of 99.5 meters, have a maximum speed of around 26 knots, and a maximum range of 4,000 nautcal miles.

So far the weapons fit-out are believed to include the Oto Melara 76mm gun, an Aselsan SMASH 30mm secondary gun, two quadruple launchers for the Rokeysan Atmaca anti-ship missiles, and a 16-cell vertical launching system for the K-SAAM short-range air defense missile system.

[1] Royal Malaysian Navy

[2] Naval News

[3] Defense News