Istanbul Shipyards lays down Malaysia's LMS

Malaysia's first Batch 2 LMS seen here at its keel-laying ceremony. (Royal Malaysian Navy)

Türkiye's Istanbul Shipyard has laid down the keel for the first Batch 2 littoral mission ship (LMS) on order for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN).

A ceremony to mark the milestone was held on 8 April at the shipyard's facilities in Istanbul, the service disclosed in a statement on the next day.

It is part of a contract for three Batch 2 LMSs that the Malaysian government signed for with Türkiye's STM in June 2024.

All three vessels will be based on the Turkish Navy's Ada-class corvette.

Steel for the first Batch 2 vessel was cut on 4 December 2024, the RMN said in its statement.

Janes has reached out to STM and the RMN for more details on Malaysia-specific customisations that have been incorporated on the vessels but has yet to receive a reply at the time of publication.

However, the Ada class has an overall length of about 100 m and displaces about 2,500 tonnes at full load.

Powered by four diesel engines in a combined diesel and diesel (CODAD) configuration, the warship can attain a top speed of 26 kt and a standard range of about 4,000 n miles at 14 kt.

It can embark a crew complement of 111 and one medium helicopter on its flight deck.

In terms of weapons, the vessels will each be armed with a 76 mm naval gun in the primary position, two quadruple launchers for surface-to-surface missiles, and a 30 mm secondary gun and launchers for surface-to-air missiles.