How Strong is LCS?

09 Oktober 2017

KD Maharaja Lela 2501 (photo : Malaysian Defence)

Arranged in 2011, after the six years of pregnancy, the Malaysian Navy launched its first LCS.

According to Navy Recognition, the Malaysian Navy named the Maharaja Lela, carrying the number "2501" as the first of Malaysian Second-Generation Patrol Vessels class (SGPV) ship built based on the design of the Gowind Corvettes class of the DCNS shipyard, France. Also according to the statement Malaysian Navy's  SGPV is also the first of Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) of the country.


The Maharaja Lela was launched in Malaysia from March 2016 at Malaysia's Boustead Sdn Bhd Shipyard, but the plan to develop the SGPV was start from 2011. Up to $ 1.9 billion to build six LCS warships instead of buying from overseas.

Multi layered defence of LCS (image : RMN)

Participating in the Malaysian Navy 's SGPV development program is quite well known names such as MEKO 200 of ThyssenKrupp or Damien Sigma 10514, but Malaysia eventually chose the DCNS Gowind escort class. However, the SGPV is an extension of Gowind's variant with water displacement as well as ship size larger than the Gowind prototype.


Compared to the current models of the Malaysian Navy, the SGPV has a relatively large gap in technology and firepower, which itself is optimized for littoral combat duties, while simultaneously being able to simultaneously serving various missions in the Malaysian Navy's Navy squadron.

Gowind LCS, ship will be equipped with 16 x SAM in Sylver VLS, 8 × SSM (2 launchers with 4 missiles each) and 2 torpedo launchers (triple torpedoes each) (image : Thales)

The SGPV possesses a completely different weapon configuration from Gowind from main gun to anti-ship missiles. Accordingly, the SGPV was equipped with a 57mm Bofors cannon instead of Gowind's 76mm OTO Melara gun, which was accompanied by the 30mm DS30M Mark 2 automatic weapons system instead of the 20mm. In addition it was equipped with three torpedo launchers instead of just two as in Gowind.

About the missile system, the SGPV is equipped with VLS vertical missile launchers capable of deploying MICA short-range anti-aircraft missiles similar to Gowind. But with anti-ship missiles it is armed with advanced Naval Strike Missile (NSM) anti-ship missiles, not with Exocet missile which were too old.

In general, the SGPV will almost certainly help the Malaysian warship's battleship to malfunction in the near future as their maritime capability improves significantly in both quality and quantity. The design of SGPV itself is well suited to the size of Malaysia's naval forces as they only favor littoral combat.

KD Maharaja Lela 2501 (photo : RMN)

According to the plan, Malaysia will build five more SGPVs over the next few years, with the next one booked this year and in the finalization phase. The value of each SGPV is estimated at $ 466 million, fully self-sufficient with the transfer of technology from DCNS.

On basic design SGPV has a displacement of 3100 tons, with a base length of 111m, a width of up to 16m and a draft of 3.85m. The configuration of the SGPV was significantly larger than that of the Gowinds, which allowed the littoral warship to operate longer at sea, with crews on the SGPV twice as much as Gowind (138 versus 65).

Compared to other classes of guards or destroyers in the area, the Malaysian Navy's SGPV is somewhat superior in terms of technology although it is not equipped with powerful main guns. But with MICA or NSM, the SGPV can confidently defend Malaysia's waters against threats from the north or the east.

KD Maharaja Lela 2501 (photo : RMN)

The Malaysian Navy currently has about 60 types of warships, of which only 14 are capable of carrying missiles and 2 of the submarines attack electric diesel, most of them already obsolete. In addition, the country's navy employs only 15,000 personnel.

Back to SGPV, the onboard electronics are a bit more advanced than their predecessor Gowind's DCNS SETIS naval combat system developed by DCNS, which incorporates the Thales SMART- S Mk2 and Rheinmetall TMEO Mk2 fire control radar.

The SGPV's anti-submarine warfare system is relatively low if it does not mean that there is no real resilience. In return, the SGPV was able to deploy heavy naval helicopters and reconnaissance UAVs aboard.

(KienThuc)