KONGSBERG Offering NSM-equipped Kapal Serang Ringan to Malaysia
KONGSBERG DEFENCE & AEROSPACE is offering the Indonesian PT Lundin and PT PAL-designed fast missile boat equipped with their Naval Strike Missile (NSM) to the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN). The Norwegian company displayed a scale model of the craft, known as Kapal Serang Ringan at LIMA ’23.
This is believed to the be first time this model is displayed at LIMA show.
Under RMN’s modernisation plan known as #15to5, the Navy plans to replace its current Fast Attack Craft (Gun) and Fast Attack Craft (Missile) with the Littoral Mission Ship (LMS). Although the proposed light attack craft looks to be too small to fulfil this requirement at 19m, the missile-equipped vessel is better armed than the first batch of the LMS that Malaysia earlier procured from China.
The Kapal Serang Ringan design was first unveiled at Indo Defence exhibition in 2022 and was promoted to fulfil the requirement of the Indonesian Navy.
The fast missile boat, with a max speed of more than 50 knots, is a universal design that allows for a multi-purpose vessel suited for different tasks. The overall vessel could be outfitted to meet different mission profiles, like anti-submarine warfare and mine countermeasures by use of sonar and light torpedo equipped.
The fast missile boat is a pressure casted monohulled vessel built in a carbon-composite material. The light weight material has great weight saving potential and strong mechanical strength, thus allowing for a stiff and rigid hull with high-speed performance.
The hull is further designed with a low Radar Cross Section in mind, reducing the number of radar-reflecting surfaces and edges.
The ship is designed to carry 2x NSM. With sensors the fast missile boat can be used as ISR platform well suited for operations in shallow waters with limited navigational freedom. EO/IR and radar sensors are part of the standard outfitted boat, but the platform could also be equipped with additional sensors like ECM/EW systems etc.
The fast missile boat is equipped with sensors and weapons from KONGSBERG world class portfolio, and can carry up to six crew.
The concept of deploying small missile boats to complement the firepower of larger naval vessels is not new although the size of the new smaller boats differs from the fast attack craft of the 1960s. These high-speed and manoeuvrable missile boats can also be deployed from small ports. They are cost effective as a potent weapon system.
The advent of small land attack-capable cruise missiles has given missile boats a different dimension of capability. The previous platforms, designed to engage targets about 50 km away initially, can now engage distant targets more than 250km away if equipped with modern missiles such as the NSM.