Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) update

[renjer]

BAE Systems To Transfer Technology On Frigate Project to Labuan

February 08, 2007 21:47 PM

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 8 (Bernama) -- BAE Systems, a global defence and aerospace company, will be transferring technology to Labuan Shipyard and Engineering (LSE) in building two frigates for the Royal Malaysian Navy.

BAE Systems president, Sir Charles Masefield, said today the company would be assisting LSE in the development programmes right from design stage to system integration until manufacturing process.

"We hope LSE could be a world class naval and commercial shipbuilding company by the end of the programme," he told reporters after witnessing the signing of memorandum of understanding between BAE Systems and Realmild (M) Sdn Bhd, the owner of LSE.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also the Defence Minister, witnessed the ceremony at his office here.

Sir Masefield said 350 Malaysians were currently undergoing apprenticeship with his company as part of preparation for undertaking the frigate project.

The MoU was signed by BAE Systems managing director for Asia-Pacific, Steve Meighan and Realmild executive chairman Datuk Abdul Latif Abdullah.

Sir Masefield said the project would commence immediately after the signing of agreement.

Meanwhile, Abdul Latif said LSE would be investing RM30 million in upgrading the LSE capabilities to build the two frigates.

"Naval shipbuilding capability will be the backbone of LSE apart from its oil and gas activities," he said.

-- BERNAMA

 

[Tasman]

Tasman, you are from Hobart? Just slightly off-topic but I have always thought the Catamarans you guys make over there would a great addition to our navy's transport fleet. Something that could transport combat troops and equipment quickly between East and West Malaysia. Within the "evolution of a single darkness" if necessary.

As a matter of fact I was looking at two of the catamarans at the Incat facility when I took my own boat for a run on the Derwent yesterday. One of them was being repainted from grey to white so I suspect it may be an ex US military vessel that has completed its lease.

I've always thought that the cats would be ideal for operations in Malaysian and also Indonesian waters because of their speed. The US deployed one, HSV-2 Swift, during Tsunami relief operations. The only worry I have is that they seem to me to be quite noisy compared with other vessels when they undertake trials on the Derwent at night. I can hear them from inside my house when they are 3-5 km away. Of course they are travelling very fast when they are making that noise and it may be a problem that could be solved with different engines. Some forum members have reported that the high speed vessels made by Austal in Western Australia are of better quality than the Incat built vessels but I have no first hand experience of the Austal built vessels.

Cheers

 

[weasel1962]

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[qwerty223]

Something that could transport combat troops and equipment quickly between East and West Malaysia. Within the "evolution of a single darkness" if necessary.

I read news about RMN is pushing a LPD program. Status is not clear, probably 2 for 1st batch. And the news said China present Type 071 as the program contester.

 

[renjer]

According to Realmild executive director Datuk Abdul Latif Abdullah, other than the current two frigates, the shipyard would also be getting more contracts from RMN that could stretch to more than 10 years of constructions time.

Maybe some catamarans? Or maybe some submarines based on the Pakistani 3-boat per class model?

 

[renjer]

I read news about RMN is pushing a LPD program. Status is not clear, probably 2 for 1st batch. And the news said China present Type 071 as the program contester.

Yes, I have read about the LPD program too. If we are talking purely of shuttling between east and west (or the other way around) something like the A400Ms and catamarans are better because of their speed. Under this scenario it is unlikely that we will lose control of all our airports or harbours on either side. Some would still be available as an airhead. I forget the term for the naval equilavent.

I think the LPDs would be more practical for realising our forward defence strategy where we might have to land by force.

 

[qwerty223]

Since we have 3 separate threads, i just post this here la...

I found this earlier, is a 3rd party database, have a function similar to UN register arm council. Is call FIRST (Facts on International Relations and Security Trends). They have this awesome database that summarize data from a wide range of info sources. Try it out, you may find yourselves some useful data.

http://first.sipri.org

 

[weasel1962]

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[qwerty223]

Could also mean that the OPV contract may not be renewed after 6 ships (shift to alternative suppliers)....

Hrm... Just like renjer said earlier, our econ is doing find for the pass few years. If we keep the pace in the next 10~15 years, we might probably end up full armed 27 MEKOs.

I noticed that not only SG but Indo too, beef up thier budget after going thro' the 97 finance crisis. SIGMA has come and I heard that another 6 more frigate is coming near future.

Although it is decent to say "We dont care what they buy" or eg statement, but in reality, it is wise to do something to bring the equation back to where it belongs.

I do hope we keep a compact but high capable armed force.

 

[renjer]

Could also mean that the OPV contract may not be renewed after 6 ships (shift to alternative suppliers)....

I hope this isn't the case.

 

[weasel1962]

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[Zzims]

APMM To Have Air Unit Soon


"Included in the plan is the acquisition of two amphibious aircraft, three light helicopters, three medium-lift helicopters and two offshore patrol vessels."


-- BERNAMA

Are those items on that Buying list for APMM Division in the Peninsular or Both sides of Malaysia?

 

[qwerty223]

APMM To Have Air Unit Soon

KUANTAN, Feb 15 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (APMM) will have its own air unit soon.

APMM director-general Vice Admiral Datuk Mohammad Nik said the agency was in the process of acquiring a number of aircraft.

"The procurement is included under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) and it's up to the government to determine the number of helicopters," he told a press conference at APMM's first anniversary celebration in Bandar Indera Mahkota Thursday.

He said the agency would use at least one amphibious helicopter this year.

Mohammad said under the 9MP, the government had allocated nearly RM3 billion for the APMM to aquire assets and develop its infrastructre.

"Included in the plan is the acquisition of two amphibious aircraft, three light helicopters, three medium-lift helicopters and two offshore patrol vessels."

He said the APMM also planned to set up two air bases and a training centre, and install a sea monitoring system in Sabah.

-- BERNAMA

I was wondering, will this affect the CSAR copter plan? I mean, will the AF or Navy get those new toy, and Nuri for APMM?

 

[weasel1962]

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[qwerty223]

News Update.

RMN Region 2's biggest exercise
21 February, 2007

Labuan: The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) has concluded its biggest ever five-day exercise in Region Two with "zero incidents and zero defects."

The marathon exercise code-named "Ostex East 1/200" is the first of the series of the Operational Sea Training Exercise East and involved more than 500 personnel, 8 RMN ships KD Kedah, KD Pahang, Kd Buang, KD Pari, KD Sri Gaya, KD Sri Tiga and 2 CB 90. The Navy's special forces or Paskal were also involved.

The exercise which began on Feb. 12 covered 45,000 square miles across the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea. It set sail from Kota Kinabalu Naval Base in Sepanggar, proceeded to Lahad Datu, Semporna waters before ending up at the Sandakan base.

A statement issued during the closing ceremony said the objective of the exercise included testing the competencies of the ships crew in various evolutions at sea. It said that it was very important as a naval force was always in "harm's way" at sea.

"Ostex East" was also to evaluate the level of readiness of the ships systems which included ships' platform, weapon systems and crew and testing the command and control aspects of the operations.

The statement added that Ostex had been expanded from its inception with just a low level exercise to a more advanced and complex exercise. The spectrum or scope included anti-terrorism and humanitarian and disaster relief.

The RMN was not just for developing capability but also delivering effective operations contributing to maritime security, in particular Sabah's maritime security.

During the exercise, 36 series of evolutions or activities were conducted against 36 planned contributing to a 100 per cent achievement.

There were zero incidents in context of injuries, and zero defects, meaning all ships systems worked despite the fact that two of its ships are over 30 years of age.

The exercise used various scenarios to counter different types of threats and live ammunitions were used in some cases. The evaluation included that of high-tech weapons systems fitted to two of the ships, namely KD Kedah and KD Pahang.

The statement said four more such New Generation Patrol Vessels would be secured to complete a squadron of six ships. This was under the project to replace some of RMN's 27 ageing ships.

The statement also said that the exercise demonstrated the capability and ability of the Navy in three critical aspects of warfare: Flexibility, Mobility, Adaptability and Interope-ability.

Though the exercise had been successful, several areas had been identified where improvements could and needed to be done.

Two of the ships, KD Buang and KD Pari also planned to call into Cebu City from 18 to 20 Feb 2007 on friendship visits.

Exercise mainly focus on counter terrorist and humanitarian.
I found this quite interesting "The evaluation included that of high-tech weapons systems fitted to two of the ships, namely KD Kedah and KD Pahang." wonder how far they go...

 

[caksz]

There is a news report that Malaysia is buying 13000 tone LPD and k-9 SPG from Korean , can anyone confrim it ?

 

[mmmbop]

We just show interest.that doesn't meant we bought it.

 

[weasel1962]

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[qwerty223]

General

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March 11, 2007 09:16 AM

Government Mulls Buying Korean Support Vessel


From Roslan Ariffin

BUSAN, March 11 (Bernama) -- The government will consider purchasing a Korean-made multi-role support ship for the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM), Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today.

hrm... weird.
So, the vessel will paint TLDM or ATM?

 

[qwerty223]

Iraqi Navy to undergo expansion

March 19, 2007 - 6:09AM

The Iraqi Navy plans to buy 21 new vessels under a $US220 million ($A280 million) acquisition plan, including four new patrol ships from Italy costing close to $US100 million ($A127 million), US and British navy officers say.

US Captain Michael Zamesnik, part of the transition team working with the Iraqi navy, said the force was expected to expand from about 1,200 personnel to between 2,000 and 2,500 by the end of 2010 under a modernisation plan.

The plan foresees spending another $US180 million ($A228 million) on infrastructure improvements, including rebuilding the main naval base at Umm Qasr in southern Iraq.

"In three or four years they should be operationally independent, that's our goal," Zamesnik told a news conference in Baghdad, adding that Iraqi patrol boats and marines were already working with US-led forces to protect oil facilities.

The Iraqi navy has been critically short of seaworthy ships to patrol potential insurgent targets such as the Basra oil terminal and its smaller sister Khor al-Amaya terminal.

Iraq has the world's third largest reserves of oil.

British Navy Commander Paul Marshall said the four patrol ships to be made by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri would be crewed by about 35 sailors each and delivery was due between 18 months and two years after the contract is signed.

Major Gerald Ostlund said the plan was awaiting final approval by the finance ministry and contract signature was expected within the next week.

Also on the list for purchase by the end of 2010 are several offshore support vessels, smaller patrol boats and fast assault boats. The total cost of the navy purchase program is just under $US220 million ($A280 million), including $US98 million ($A124.3 million) for the four Italian ships, all funded by the Iraqi government, Ostlund said.

"The Iraqi Navy needs to grow in size and then it will be able to do all of its tasks," British Navy Captain Anthony Radikin said. "They have got plans for 21 new ships, and nine of those are on contract or about to go on contract and they're also building a brand new base."

The other contracts already signed are for two off-shore support vessels and three patrol boats from Malaysia.

The two Gulf oil platforms are the economic core of Iraq, pumping 1.6 million barrels per day into the holds of tankers berthed alongside and generating most government revenues.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Iraqi-Navy-to-undergo-expansion/2007/03/19/1174152915774.html

I have no idea what we can provide to them.
Any comment?