SHAH ALAM: As expected the Gowind multi-mission corvette tops the Malaysian Defence polls. Its not official mind you but it seemed every one is following the cue.
Even Utusan Malaysia had claimed that the Gowind is the favourite. Read here..
Yes, the buzz in the industry is that the DCNS entry for the SGPV/LCS programme is the favourite to be named as the winner despite the obvious solution of the Boustead entry. The Sigma solution from Dutch firm Schelde which I had previously reported was the early favourite for the programme was the least favoured, ranking even below None of the Above and even below Dont Know!
Obviously having a ship which is the same as our neighbour is not a good idea, not to our military buffs anyway! Wonder what will happen if they….oops more on that later.
But the big story is no longer the choice of the design but I believed now is the name of the ships. Since the SGPV/LCS is a different animal compared to the Kedah class, especially if they choose the Gowind design, a new name is most appropriate.
Therefore, I submit that the new ships be designated as the Laksamana-class ships. Yes, the Italian corvettes named after the obscure Perak warriors are also named as Laksamana-class but this time around there are also good reasons for it.
Why I am proposing this? I am just taking the cue from our own Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang, who during a briefing at the Defence Ministry on Apr 4, 2011 had this to say:
“Ambrin had offered guidelines and criteria for efficient financial management and urged the Defence Ministry to practice an open tender process while questioning why many tenders had been given out to senior ex-servicemen or companies owned by them.”
Yes most of us miss the story ( I did not go to Mindef that day!) and the ones who covered it chose to give a positive spin on it. Here. I am sure the good Tan Sri had a good reason to say what he had to say deep inside the bowels of Mindef.
At the moment, this is the best explaination I can give for suggesting the new ships be called the Laksamana-class. More to come later. In the meantime, visit our polls page.
–Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (28)
Errr, aren't the Laksamana Class have been reserved for the 4 missile corvettes? The Assad Class that we bought from Italy? Any other fancy soldier rank apart from Laksamana in the old Malay kingdom? How about Hulubalang Class then.
Which ever design is chosen and whatever the class in named, lets hope that for the sake of commonality and training, the LCS shares some common features with the Kedah class. If the Gowind is selected, with the French being French, I can't see them easily agreeing to it having a German made CMS - the COSYS, as is fitted to the Kedah class.
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The CMS is a Government Furnished Equipment, the yard will have little say on such matters. Yes the Gowind was design for Thales stuff but it will be easy to put other people stuff there. It will probably not be the COSYS.
I am kind of sad that the Bouestead design wasn't chosen. True it isn't the best but still it is the cheapest option and will utilize local design team to the fullest. Some modifications to the NGPV design to fit ASW torpedoes and sensors, VL SAM missiles will make it good for our needs...
I hope the Gowind won't cost us too much. At least it will come with SAM, ASM and torpedoes, unlike the so called 'fitted for but not with' NGPVs....
How the COSYS fare up with TACTICOS? IMO, if the Gowind is selected, it's best to go with the French EW since natively the SGPV will be a combatant vessel, thus sharing the commonality with the SLEP Kasturi.
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In a way yes, the Kasturi should be the guinea pig for most things to be installed in the SGPV/LCS but thats not how things are done here. The Kasturi SLEP should have been done years ago to validate the Kedah class equipment....
The SLEP Kasturi and the F2000 frigates use what CMS? I thought the Malaysia Combat Management System is being developed by HeiTech Padu for the SGPV/LCS combat platform and any further ships including the future MPSS.
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Hei Tech Padu signed an MOU with Thales to develop the Tacticos as the MCMS if they got the deal for the SGPV/LCS and future application.
The Kasturi will receive the latest version of TACTICOS, the Lekiu are fitted with NAUTIS.
The Perdana, Handalan and Jerong have no CMS, just a local fire control.
i believe whatever class gov choose, it will have ample equipment. with RM 1 billion per ship and appreciation of ringgit value , commonality will become the last thing in their list as usual.
my only concern is with current budget, can most of the ships be at the sea most of the times? or more likely be at the harbour due to 'maintenance' reasons. if that is happening, additional hull in service is also useless
The RMN currently has the NAUTIS, COSYS, TACTICOS and the IPN10 and IPN5 on the Laksamana. If we remain true to norm, we will probably intoduce yet another CMS....
Very curious as to why the Gowind is popular amongst many Malaysians on various forums. Is it solely due to it's stealthy design??
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I guess so, nice looks is always a plus point
Well I guess because the Gowind-class vessels have one of the best look for a ship so far :)
I bet the half of the 1 billion will go to so called tech transfer package, which was similar to what we bought from the Germans a decade ago and now into the trash.