KUALA LUMPUR: I have been trying to discuss this on a new post after comments from En Adrian but gremlins prevented me from posting the pix of the Kasturi SLEP as proposed by Boustead and as such I have delayed this post for some time now. So on with the post!
What we know of the SLEP is the system proposed by Boustead and the entry in Wiki as mentioned by En Adrian. The WIKI entry stated that Thales had been given the contract but as far as I know it was Bouestead that was given the Letter of Intent, which has not translated into a contract, yet.
Of course, Thales could be given the contract by Bouestead and the Tacticos CMS would be obvious choice as most of the electronics installed on the Kasturi class came courtesy of Signaal, now part of the larger Thales conglomerate.
The SLEP proposed by Bouestead also mirrored the Wiki entry especially for the electronics (the radar remains Signal DA-08) and the weapons suite are those endorsed by shipyard (Bouestead) as it is the local agent.
IT is not the RMN preferred solution so when the contract is signed, changes could be made although in the case of the electronics it is doubtful. Being a conservative outfit, RMN would not make such a big leap as putting the weapons and electronics suite on the PVs on the Kasturi-class as mentioned by MeesterT.
It would be good if they had done it before embarking on the PV project, to validate the specifications of the new ship. The Kasturi was in fact built at the same HDW facility which was where the two first PVs were built, so it would not have been a big problem.
Since we are already 10 years too late and billions wasted down the road, does it really matter if we do not follow the yellow brick road?
En Adrian made a really good point about RMN having so many different systems on its ships but thats what happened when National Interest comes first!
— Malaysian Defence
Waaa, an entire post based on my comments? OK la.
Difficult to argue against Thales as most of the components are in fact from Thales. They would know best how to integrate them all.
Perhaps the right question is – does the RMN have a strategy to standardize on electronics like CMS systems to save on ‘avoidable’ costs like retraining, or will each ship come with its own set of electronics depending on the country it comes from? It just seems like all our defense projects turn out to be integration ‘challenges’, and we do not seem to developing our own integration skills. A SLEP program seems like a lower risk opportunity to test out our own skills compared to newer systems like the Jebat Batch 2. After all, the COSYS 110 is supposed to ‘modular’ and ‘flexible’, and we would have built some expertise (I hope) in that system. Who knows, it might lead to us developing our own CMS to control components from diff vendors.