Turkish Shipbuilder STM Will Build Three Ships For Malaysia

ISTANBUL – Turkey will build three ships for the Royal Malaysian Navy under the latter’s Littoral Mission Ship Batch 2 Project, as part of an agreement signed by the two countries.

This is the first time Malaysia has signed an inter-government agreement for the procurement of defense equipment.

The countries signed the deal on Monday at a ceremony attended by Turkey’s defense industry chief Haluk Görgün and Malaysia’s Defense Minister Mohammed Khaled Nordin said STM will build the coastal mission ships in Turkey.

“During the modification of the ships, products from a number of Turkish defense industry companies, including Havelsan, Aselsan and Roketsan, will be used. I wholeheartedly believe that the LMS Batch 2 project is just the beginning of long-term cooperation on naval platforms between the two countries,” said Görgün.

STM Managing Director Özgür Güleryüz said that after working on naval platforms for the Pakistan Navy, the company is now focusing on continue construction of two corvettes Ukraine.

Güleryüz added that construction of the Malaysian ships will begin in 2024, with scheduled delivery in three and a half years.

As part of the project, STM will build and equip the ships in Turkey with significant participation from other local defense companies, including equipping them with the 30mm Muhafiz remotely piloted stabilized weapon system; the Cenk 3D search radar; the Ares electronic support system; the Akrep fire control radar; a chaff decoy system; an identification friend or enemy system; and other electronic sensors.

In addition, the ships will be equipped with the Atmaca anti-ship missile developed by Roketsan, and the battle management system and 76mm gun fire control system developed by Havelsan. There was no information about air defense missiles.

The specifications of the ships are: