SHAH ALAM: KD Mahawangsa – pennant number 1504 – left the Lumut naval base this morning enroute to Lebanon for a resupply mission for the Malaysian UNIFIL peacekeeping force. Mahawangsa was expected to arrive in Beirut, Lebanon on January 2, next year. She is expected to arrive home on February 4. As it is a resupply mission, the ship among others carried six three tonne trucks, two one-tonne truck and an ambulance; ammunition and explosives, communication gear and items to be donated to the Lebanese community. A number of the same vehicles were shipped via commercial means a few months back.
From Joint Force:
LUMUT, 30 Nov 2022- Panglima Angkatan Bersama, Leftenan Jeneral Dato’ Indera Haji Yazid bin Haji Arshad TUDM telah menyempurnakan Majlis Pelepasan Tali KD MAHAWANGSA sempena pelayaran ke Lubnan bagi ulang bekal MALBATT 850-10 pada jam 8.30 pagi ini di Pangkalan TLDM Lumut.
Buat pertama kalinya Markas Angkatan Bersama dan Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia, telah memulakan inisiatif dan menjalin kerjasama bagi melaksanakan pergerakan ulangbekal pasukan MALAYSIAN BATTALION (MALBATT) 850 di Lubnan dengan menggunakan kapal TLDM iaitu KD MAHAWANGSA.
Penugasan ini adalah berlanjutan daripada penerimaan aset tambahan untuk MALBATT 850 iaitu 6 buah Trak 3 tan GS Cargo, 2 buah Trak 1 tan, sebuah Ambulan, peluru dan bahan letupan, peralatan komunikasi dan barangan untuk kegunaan aktiviti CIMIC. Kapal yang sama juga akan digunakan untuk membawa pulang beberapa barangan tertentu daripada pegangan MALBATT 850 di Lubnan ke tanahair.
KD MAHAWANGSA bakal menempuh pelayaran di samudera selama kira-kira 2 bulan ini dijangka tiba di Pelabuhan Beirut, Lubnan pada 2 Jan 2023 untuk proses ulang bekal barangan logistik MALBATT 850 dan dijangka tiba semula di Tambatan Pangkalan Lumut pada 4 Feb 2023.
Pelayaran KD MAHAWANGSA pada kali ini akan membawa seramai 203 orang terdiri daripada 18 Pegawai, 169 krew kapal dan juga 16 petugas bantuan sokongan. Pegawai Memerintah KD MAHAWANGSA adalah Kepten Mohd Amin bin Mat Tahir TLDM.
From the pictures published by Joint Force, a number of Paskal troopers are also attached to the Mahawangsa, as the security detail. Mahawangsa will have to sail through the Horn of Africa which is one of the world’s most active zone for pirates.
— Malaysian Defence
2 bulan? Thats a very slow ship
Among others it will include a stop in Jeddah to allow the sailors to perform the umrah
Basically the departure of KD Mahangwasa leave a capability gap due to it the only ship remaining in the navy for the 2 months period. Sadly the MRSS procurement is on back sit due to lcs saga.
Interestingly RMN,RN,RSN & RAN all have a “MRSS” programs by the 2030s. Would be great if it’s a joint procurement though if it comes through ours would be a discount version with a whole lot less equipment due to our budget
MRSS is in the state of urgent for TLDM. KD Mahawangsa is the only support and logistic ship in the fleet and it is nearly 40 years old.
KDU,
There are 2 MPCSS in RMN fleet.
RMN still have the KD Sri Indera Sakti while KD Mahawangsa is on overseas tour.
Plenty of cheap options to get additional sealift capacity for RMN if you know where to look.
kdu – “Sadly the MRSS procurement is on back sit due to lcs saga”
It was on “back sit” long before that.
Zaft – ” Would be great if it’s a joint procurement though”
A lot of things would be “great” but in actual reality we don’t buy jointly because defence cooperation has not reached that level; plus different countries have different requirements and timelines. Also, if you’ve noticed past attempts at joint procurement within ASEAN or the FPDA [ask if you need examples] have failed. Neither do we place emphasis on interoperability beyond what we do during exercises.
Kakadu – “Plenty of cheap options to get additional sealift capacity for RMN if you know where to look”
The issue is not “knowing where to look” but – as you’re aware – the actual priority in the larger scheme of things. As for “cheap” that term by itself is subjective but ultimately the RMN desires something suitable for it’s requirements [we can rule out pre owned hulls or RO-RO designs] and something which will be operated for at least 30 years; thus “cheap” might not possibly enter the equation.
In the first picture, you can see KD SIS at the jetty on the right of the picture, pennant number 1503
Azlan – “we can rule out pre owned hulls or RO-RO designs”
Why?
Spanish navy last year bought one used RORO for just €7.5 mil, and in just 1 year in service, it has been used to move
– artillery batteries to the canary islands
– PATRIOT missile batteries to Turkey
– armored vehicles and logistics to Lebanon in support of UNIFIL
– armored vehicles, artillery, SAM, ammunitions to Poland for Ukraine.
Is it too much to prioritize something as little as €7.5 mil?
I remembered the film ‘Darah Satria’, which produced in 1983, and had the KD Sri Inderasakti in its scene
Almost 40 years later as of now, the old lady still carry on with its tough job,
Kudos anyway
Kakadu – “Why?”
For the simple and obvious reason that the RMN – irrespective of the example you gave – has no requirement for a RO/RO ship per see. It has a requirement for a ship which can perform as tender, for amphib movement; etc. That’s why. It it wanted a RO/RO ship it would have said so.
Kakadu – “Is it too much to prioritize something as little as €7.5 mil?”
Direct that question to the bureaucrats at the PM Office’s EPU and the MOF.
China has used RORO for amphibious movement
http://news.usni.org/2021/07/26/chinese-navy-using-commercial-car-ferries-to-launch-amphibious-landing-craft
Various countries use RO/RO ships but they also have other types of transports. If we get RO/RO ships it will be all we have. RO/RO ships are great but in our context we need a multi purpose platform to do various things. If SAR is needed obviously a RO/RO ship won’t suffice. What happens if the ship can’t dock and things have to be air lifted to shore? Is a RO/RO suitable as a tender?
The PLAN has LPDs/LSTs for amphib assault and has RO/RO ships for amphib movement. There is also a large civilian operated fleet which can be utilised.
Just like TB2 & ANKA, a RORO is a great addition to LHD/LPD but not a replacement for a LHD/LPD.
And technically speaking we do have a RORO program. Just that it’s for the police marines for now.
Azlan “if you’ve noticed past attempts at joint procurement within ASEAN or the FPDA [ask if you need examples] have failed. Neither do we place emphasis on interoperability beyond what we do during exercises”
What we did in the past is not a reflection of what we would do going forward as the political, geopolitical & economics environment had changed.
Nothing has changed really, we are still doing the same things
zaft – ”What we did in the past is not a reflection of what we would do going forward as the political, geopolitical & economics environment had changed.”
You have a knack for saying certain things which no doubt you actually believe but in actual reality have little bearing with the facts as they stand.
A RORO has only 1 purpose, to transport vehicles on & off. While it may be able convert to launch amphib vehicles, it it not able to carry landing crafts, it is not configured to hold battalion of troops, nor flexible enough to support during HADR. Going for a temporary solution would push back TLDM need for purpose designed MRSS. The ability to launch landing crafts are immense for HADR during weather disasters whereby rescue trucks can be shore landed when docking facilities are unavailable, you can’t roll off trucks into the water yeah.