PETALING JAYA: IT is reported today that Boustead Naval Shipyard has awarded two contracts for its sister companies as part of the SGPV programme. As I had mentioned before updates on the SGPV programme is coming in drips. Fun for BNS of course but not for us the defence junkies! In the story below, it is confirmed that the DCNS SETIS will be the CMS for the ships and the Rheinmental FCR most probably TMX or the TMXEO has been chosen for the ships.
However, there is still no word on the type of missiles that will be installed on the ships. Will it be the NSM and ESSM combo or the French (oops European) Exocet and MICA? One wonders what will the cat bring during DSA 2012, next week? As far as I am concern the other systems I mentioned in previous postings remained the same.
From the Star:
KUALA LUMPUR: Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) has issued three letters of award (LoAs) worth RM1.532bil to Contraves Advanced Devices Sdn Bhd (CAD), a subsidiary of Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC).
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Boustead Holdings said the three LoAs were in relation to the contract for second generation patrol vessels/ Littoral combat ships received previously by BNS from the Government.
“CAD is to undertake engineering and integration works in connection with the DCNS SETIS Combat Management System (CMS), together with procurement of the CMS and the Rheinmetall Fire Control System at a total ceiling contract sum of RM1.532bil for an implementation period of up to 10 years from the commencement date of the awarded works,” it said.
The commencement date of the awarded works is April 9.
“The awarded works are expected to contribute positively to the earnings of the company for the financial year ending Dec 31 and subsequent financial years as the tenure of the awarded works is long term in nature,” it said.
Boustead Holdings has a direct interest of 65% in BHIC and 68.85 % in BNS.
— Malaysian Defence
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Hopefully this will be done soon for the rest of the system..
One has got to love this quote:
“The awarded works are expected to contribute positively to the earnings of the company for the financial year ending Dec 31 and subsequent financial years as the tenure of the awarded works is long term in nature,” it said.
Of course it is going to ‘contribute positively’! Not to mention that they are essentially awarding contracts to themselves. Recipe to inflate cost: Set up a bunch of subsidiaries and shell companies run by your cronies and then award them subcontracts along with generous ‘commissions’. Also, don’t forget to force the customer into accepting the systems of your choice; anything else wouldn’t ‘contribute positively’ to your earnings.
really keen to know what the missile choose to be installed on board . Hope for nsm and essm ;(
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Its looking unlikely…
And will the LCS get a towed array, as it was supposed to have better ASW capabilities than other ships, or will it just get the standard and very basic hull mounted active/passive sonar and 2 triple torp tubes…
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I hope to find out next week…I don’t the Thales Captas is that expensive but taken as whole it could be..
yes , looking at current political influence by DCNS . exocet block 3 combination with mica is the most likely configuration we will get for the SGPV . hurrm . what a loss , our counterparts already getting their hand on ASTER while we still rely on a missile that have range like a manpads …
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Again I have to state DCNS is not behind the push for MICA and the Exocet.
Is the PAAMS (precision anti-air missile system) with Aster 30 an option? Testing on the system in France has been very successful.
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As I had said before the LCS some 2000 tonnes is much too small for the Aster 30. 15 is possible as it is more or less the same size as the Singapore frigates. An Aster 30 needs a 4000 tonnes hull. A 4000 tonnes hull is a destroyer!
To highlight the importance of naval development (more hulls, advanced systems, etc.) for the RMN, look no further than today’s headlines:
Philippine warship ‘in stand-off’ with Chinese vessels
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17673426
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The Philippine warship is an ex-US Coastie built in the 40s!
The Aster 30 does not need a 4000 tonnes hull. The RSN Formidable class is equipped with 4 Sylver A-50 8-cell vertical launch systems, which can launch Aster 15, Aster 30 or a mix of both, and weighs in at 3500 tonnes. The Sylver A50 is 6.0 metres height, requires 2.6 x 2.3 metres deck space and weighs 8000 kg. The Sylver A43 8-cell VLS can only launch Aster 15s, but is not much smaller: 5.4 metres height, requires the same amount of deck space and weighs 7000 kg. I’m sure (with modifications) a 2000 tonnes LCS could be fitted with at least 2 VLS modules. For comparison, a single-cell VL MICA-M module is 4 metres long and weighs 480 kg.
I’m not averse to the VL MICA-M; it is a good weapon (it’s basically an Aster without its booster anyway). I just wanted to know whether any thought had ever been given to PAAMS with Aster 30…
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As you said the Formidable class is around 3500 tonnes, the LCS is supposed to be around 2500 tonnes, so even if its possible to fit the Aster 30 on a 3500 tonnes ship, the LCS need some steroids fast! The 4000 tonnes limit was told to me by a DCNS rep back in 2009.
FYI – Following up on your twitter post “Singapore Secures Patrol Vessel Deal with Oman”, Defense News published an article in their print edition titled “Singapore’s ST Marine ‘Coming of Age’, detailing the formation of ST Marine’s joint venture with Kockums of Sweden to service RSN submarines. Kockums, which is part of the German-based ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, built the RSN’s submarines.
Mica VLS sounds nice but if its simply comes down to cost then better to just go with US rolling missile systems which by the way is more cheaper.
And also I know this is off topic but Oman just purchased 4 patrol boats from Singapore for $700M. I just wonder if our ship building industry are as capable of doing the same in producing ships for export too because there is big money out there to be made.
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There are several shipyard in Malaysia including BNS which claimed to be capable shipbuilders. We lost the plot in the 80/90s when it was decided that the Lumut Dockyard (the forerunner of BNS) would be the main military ship builder. Hong Leong Lurssen in Butterworth in the mid-70s were already building FACs for the Navy under license but somehow that capability was allowed to lapse. They did build some boats for the police but most such projects moved to Malaysian Shipyard Engineering in Johor in the 80s before moving to Lumut. As they say a rolling stone do not gather moss….
And there was also the yard in Pasir Gudang which ‘built’ KD Mystari – what is the yards name?. It was the same one that KD Hang Tuah was sent to be fitted with new engines.
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Its now called Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd, it used to be Malaysian Shipyard Engineering. but the shipyard part took a huge hit when PSC was given the Lumut Dockyard and the NGPV contract
Slowly BNS feeds us junkies with news of this frigate project