There is news from the neighboring navy, where two of the six Kedah Class offshore patrol vessels (OPV) will be upgraded to the status of corvettes with anti-ship missiles. This has been announced by the Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM) which drew up a MYR214 million (US$48 million) budget plan to equip two Kedah Class corvette-flavored OPVs with Naval Strike Missile (NSM) anti-ship missile launchers.
Quoted from Janes.com (1/8/2022), the plan is being proposed as a three-part procurement project under 'Rolling Plan 4' of the 12th Malaysia Plan, which runs from 2021 to 2025. Rolling Plan 4 includes proposals that include: will be funded in the national budget in 2024.
Currently, the Malaysian Navy operates six Kedah Class units, consisting of the KD Kedah F171, KD Pahang F172, KD Perak F173, KD Terengganu F174, KD Kelantan F175 and KD Selangor F176.
The Kedah Class fleet was built under a technology transfer agreement arranged between the Penang Shipbuilding Corporation (now Boustead Naval Shipyard) and a German consortium led by Blohm+Voss. Each Kedah Class unit is armed with one 76 mm OTO Melara fast reaction cannon in the bow and one 30 mm Breda Mauser cannon mounted in the rear (top of the hangar), as well as two 12.7 mm machine guns.
The Kedah Class was originally designed to be directly fitted with anti-ship missiles and RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) missiles. Everything is ready to install, because the developer has designed the weapon system in a plug and play way. However, the original Kedah Class design was fitted with Exocet MM40 Block 2 anti-ship missiles.
In the Southeast Asian region, it is not only Malaysia that is attracted to installing NSM on its warships. The Indonesian Navy has also expressed interest in installing the NSM on the stealth missile ship (KCR) KRI Golok 688. The expression of interest came from the number one person in the Navy, namely KSAL Admiral TNI Yudo Margono.
From the tnial.mil.id page (9/2/2022), it was stated that KSAL Yudo Margono wanted the NSM missile to be tested on KRI Golok in the South China Sea with a target range of 250 km according to the missile's specifications. The Indonesian Navy will provide security facilities and target shooting targets in the context of training, while PT Kongsberg will provide missiles to be tested and their firing systems.
A glimpse of the NSM missile, its real name in Norwegian is Nytt sjømålsmissil. The missile is powered by a solid fuel rocket booster, the Microturbo TRI-40 turbojet, which is capable of launching missiles at high subsonic velocity, with a range ranging from 185 – 250 km, depending on the target profile.
As with anti-ship missiles in general, the NSM flies in the terminal phase in a sea skimming pattern. As a guiding system, it relies on a combination of Inertial, GPS, terrain-reference navigation, imaging infrared homing and a target database.
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