MALAYSIA’S Littoral Mission Ship Batch 2 (LMSB2) vessels for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) from Turkiye’s STM are on schedule with all three LMS set to be delivered by the end of 2027. This comes after the second vessel was launched at Istanbul Shipyard on June 7.
Named Raja Laut, the second ship in what is now known as the Tunku-class was launched by the state ruler of the Malaysian state of Selangor and RMN Captain-in-Chief Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Alhaj and the Queen Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin as the Royal Sponsors. Its namesake originates from a historical nobleman and administrator, a prince of the third Selangor Sultan. Palace accounts cite the origins of the “Laut” title, meaning sea in Malay due to his birth near the waters of Lukut in Selangor.
The launching of both Tunku-class ships mark a key engineering milestone, with the ships now entering the setting-to-work (STW) phase involving the integration of combat and sensor systems. Malaysia opted to procure three of STM’s ADA-class corvette designs for the project in a government-to-government (G2G) deal in 2024, making STM the main contractor for the project. The same class of vessels are operated by the Turkish Naval Forces and the Pakistan Navy.
The country’s defence minister Khaled Nordin said that overall progress stood at 53.3%, surpassing the original target of 51.4%, equivalent to 22 days ahead of the planned timeline. The lead vessel–Tunku Laksamana Abdul Jalil will be handed over in September 2027, followed by the Raja Laut in the following month and the Tunku Osman Jewa in November that same year. “Following delivery, each vessel will undergo acceptance trials and operational evaluations before being commissioned into service with the RMN in phases,” the minister said in a parliamentary written reply.
The Laksamana Abdul Jalil was launched also at Istanbul Shipyard before the end of May, taking the namesake of Malaysia’s King His Majesy Sultan Ibrahim and Her Majesty’s fourth prince Tunku Abdul Jalil. The late prince had held the title Tunku Laksamana of Johor before succumbing to cancer in 2015, Laksamana being Malay for Admiral.–shp/adj/dl (Pix:RMN, SELANGOR ROYAL OFFICE)
