The Laksamana class is a class of small

missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket i ...

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

s comprising four ships currently in service with the

Royal Malaysian Navy The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN, ms, Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia; TLDM; Jawi: ) is the naval arm of the Malaysian Armed Forces. RMN is the main agency responsible for the country's maritime surveillance and defense operations. RMN's area of o ...

. All four ships of the Laksamana class are currently serving in the 24th Corvette Squadron of the Royal Malaysian Navy.

Development

The Laksamana-class corvettes were originally purchased by the Iraqi Navy as the s, their delivery was delayed and later cancelled because of

international sanctions International sanctions are political and economic decisions that are part of diplomatic efforts by countries, multilateral or regional organizations against states or organizations either to protect national security interests, or to protect in ...

against Iraq following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. It is based on the Fincantieri Type 550 corvette design. In October 1995, the Malaysian Ministry of Finance signed a contract with Italian company Fincantieri for the supply of two 675-ton missile corvettes for the Royal Malaysian Navy. Two more missile corvettes were ordered in February 1997. Some specific aspects of the ships' design were modified and the ships were refitted to meet the requirements of the Royal Malaysian Navy. The first two ships, named KD ''Laksamana Hang Nadim'' and KD ''Laksamana Tun Abdul Jamil'', were commissioned in July 1997. The second two, named KD ''Laksamana Muhammad Amin'' and KD ''Laksamana Tan Pusmah'', were delivered in July 1999. The ships are all named after famous Malay warriors who have earned the title

Laksamana The Laksamana ( Jawi: ) is a position within the armed forces, similar to the position of admiral in Malay sultanates and in present-day countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. Since South East Asia was part of Indosphere of Greater India since earl ...

during their lifetimes. ("Laksamana" would translate as an

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

in modern usage, but in the Malay Sultanates, the title would be more a minister of the realm (a warrior) who is responsible for defense of the realm. The Laksamana is the second most senior position the Malay court, lower only than the Bendahara).

Characteristics

Sensors

The ship's radar suite consists of a RAN 12L/X air and surface search radar, operating in D and I bands and a Kelvin Hughes 1007 navigation radar operating at I band. The ship is also fitted with a

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

(GPS). The ship's

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

suite comprises the INS-3 radar interceptor and the TQN-2 radar jammer. Underwater sensors provided is the ASO 94-41 hull mounted active search and attack sonar supplied by Atlas Elektronik.

Armament

The Laksamana class is armed with the MBDA Otomat Mark 2/Teseo long-range

sea-skimming Sea skimming is a technique many anti-ship missiles and some fighter or strike aircraft use to avoid radar, infrared detection, and to lower probability of being shot down during their approach to the target. Method Sea-skimming anti-ship missi ...

missile with six missile launchers installed on the stern deck, three pointing to port and three pointing starboard. The missiles are armed with a high-explosive warhead, fitted with impact and

proximity fuses A proximity fuze (or fuse) is a fuze that detonates an explosive device automatically when the distance to the target becomes smaller than a predetermined value. Proximity fuzes are designed for targets such as planes, missiles, ships at sea, ...

. The speed of the missile is

Mach Mach may refer to Mach number, the speed of sound in local conditions. It may also refer to: Computing * Mach (kernel), an operating systems kernel technology * ATI Mach, a 2D GPU chip by ATI * GNU Mach, the microkernel upon which GNU Hurd is bas ...

0.9 and the range is . A medium-range air defence is provided with the

semi-active radar homing Semi-active radar homing (SARH) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range Air-to-air missile, air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is ...

MBDA Albatros SAM system, providing defence against aircraft and incoming anti-ship missiles. The Albatros system fires the Mach 2.5 Aspide missile over a range to deliver a warhead. The Laksamanas are also armed with two triple Whitehead Alenia ILAS-3

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

launchers installed one each side on the main deck, firing the A244/S

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

torpedoes that use the active, passive and mixed mode homing to a target range of . The class is armed with a 62 calibre

Oto Melara OTO Melara was a subsidiary of the Italian company Finmeccanica, today Leonardo, active in the defence sector, with factories in Brescia and La Spezia. The Mod 56 pack howitzer, in service throughout the world, and the 76mm naval gun, ado ...

Super Rapid gun is installed on the bow deck in front of the citadel. The firing rate is 120 rounds per minute and range is up to . The ships are also armed with the Oto Melara L70 twin gun in the multi-role mode over a range of and firing rate of 300 rounds/minute. A decoy launcher is installed on both the port and starboard side of the ship. Each launcher has six launch tubes and is capable of firing illuminating rounds or chaff rounds to counter hostile radars and radar guided missiles.

Propulsion system

The ships are powered by four MTU 20V 956 TB 92 diesel engines developing sustained power driving four shafts. Three diesel generators each yield 280 KVA. The engines provide a dash speed of , a maximum sustained speed of and an economical speed of . The range at is .

Upgrade and refurbished

The Royal Malaysian Navy has confirmed that all four ships will be upgrade or refurbished to extend their service. The upgrade includes missile launchers, sensors, combat management system, fire control radar, IFF and chaff. As of 2022, the upgraded and refurbished program done for the first ship KD ''Laksamana Muhammad Amin''. The upgrade however doesn't includes the installation of new weapons to replace the obsoleted missiles and torpedoes.

Similar class

The four s built for

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

are a similar design to the Laksamana class.

Ships of the class

Gallery

File:Laksamana-class corvette Hang Nadim.jpg, KD ''Laksamana Hang Nadim'' (F134) in Langkawi, 2023. File:KD Laksamana Hang Nadim.jpg, KD ''Laksamana Hang Nadim'' (F134). File:KD Laksamana Tun Abdul Jamil dan Laksamana Muhammad Amin.jpg, KD '' Laksamana Tun Abdul Jamil'' (F135). File:Sandakan Sabah Laksamana-Muhammad-Amin-01.jpg, KD ''Laksamana Muhammad Amin (F136) in

Sandakan Sandakan (, Jawi: , ) formerly known at various times as Elopura, is the capital of the Sandakan District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the second largest city in Sabah after Kota Kinabalu. It is located on the Sandakan Peninsula and east coast of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laksamana-class corvette Corvette classes Ships built by Fincantieri