Turkey’s STM starts construction of corvettes for Malaysia

ISTANBUL — Turkish defence institution STM held a keel-laying ceremonial successful Istanbul this week for 3 corvettes being built for the Royal Malaysian Navy nether the Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) Batch-2 program.

The ships correspond Turkey’s archetypal corvette export to the Asia-Pacific portion and volition enactment Malaysia’s quality to transportation retired a assortment of maritime defence missions including anti-surface, anti-air, asymmetric and physics warfare.

Based connected the ADA-class design, the 3 corvettes are scheduled for transportation by the extremity of 2027.

STM, the main contractor, is liable for the design, construction, integration, and transportation of the vessels, arsenic good arsenic logistics support. The ships are being tailored to conscionable Royal Malaysian Navy requirements and volition beryllium constructed successful Turkey with the engagement of section defence firms.

The LMS Batch-2 ships volition diagnostic a stealthy hull with a debased radar cross-section and precocious maneuverability. With a displacement of astir 2,500 tons, each vas volition measurement 99.5 meters successful magnitude and scope speeds implicit 26 knots. Powered by a CODAD propulsion strategy with 4 diesel engines, the ships volition person a scope exceeding 4,000 nautical miles astatine cruising velocity and an endurance of 14 days. They volition accommodate a unit of 111 and enactment chopper operations with a hangar and refueling capabilities.

The corvettes volition beryllium equipped with an Italian Leonardo 76mm main gun, 1 Aselsan Smash 30mm secondary gun, Roketsan Atmaca surface-to-surface and South Korean Haegung surface-to-air missiles, decoy launchers, and physics warfare systems. Their combat systems see a 3D surveillance radar, IFF, electro-optical occurrence power radar, people designation sights, and a combat absorption strategy provided by Havelsan.

The LMS Batch-2 task follows the June 2024 signing of a government-to-government defence statement betwixt Turkey and Malaysia, with alloy cutting for the ships taking spot past December.