TSAMTO, March 15. The Malaysian Navy is considering the possibility of acquiring Turkish ADA-class corvettes (MILGEM project), which can be built as part of the second stage of the Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) Batch II warship procurement program.
According to SavunmaSanayiST, in accordance with the instructions of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Defense Minister Mohammad Hassan will visit Turkey in the near future to hold talks with the Turkish authorities and the heads of a number of defense industry enterprises.
The main topic of the visit will be the discussion of the implementation of the Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) Batch II program, which was initiated by the Malaysian Navy for the purchase of corvette-type warships. As part of this program, Malaysia intends to purchase 3 corvettes at the first stage and 8 ships of the same type at the final stage. The budget allocated for the purchase of three corvettes under the first phase of the program is about $530 million.
Malaysian Defense Minister Mohammad Hassan has already held a meeting with Turkish Ambassador to Kuala Lumpur Salim Yuksel in early March. During the meeting, issues of bilateral cooperation in the defense industry were discussed. The LMS Batch II program was one of the main items on the agenda.
According to information received by SavunmaSanayiST, Malaysia plans to implement the purchase in the format of an intergovernmental agreement (G2G).
The corvettes, which will be purchased under the LMS Batch II program, should have a length of 80 to 99 m, armed with an anti-aircraft missile system, a 76-mm main-caliber gun and 30-mm auxiliary guns. Several foreign companies are competing for participation in this project.
Currently, four MILGEM ADA-class corvettes are in service with the Turkish Navy. Construction of four MILGEM ADA-class corvettes for Pakistan and "more than one" for Ukraine continues. In addition, this year it is planned to transfer to the Turkish Navy a MILGEM ISTIF-class frigate, developed on the basis of the MILGEM ADA-class corvette project. Construction of three more ISTIF-class frigates for the Turkish navy will begin this year.
The maximum length of the MILGEM ADA corvette in the variant for the Pakistan Navy is 108.2 m, the maximum width is 14.8 m, displacement is 2985 tons, crew is 93 people. The ship will be equipped with a combined main power plant CODAG (Combined Diesel and Gas Turbine) with a gas turbine engine LM2500 and two diesel engines. The estimated speed is more than 26 knots, the range is 3,500 nautical miles at a speed of 15 knots.
The configuration of the Pakistani MILGEM ADA class ships has not been officially disclosed. According to various sources, the corvette's armament will include a 76-mm artillery mount, six anti-submarine missile launchers, two DUMV with a 25-mm AU, two twin-tube 324-mm torpedo tubes.
According to available information, the ADA corvette project has been adapted to the requirements of the Pakistani Navy, including equipping with a 16-container vertical launcher that allows the launch of the LY-80 missiles. The ship will be equipped with a radar with an active phased array SMART-S Mk.2, which allows detecting and tracking up to 500 air and surface targets at ranges up to 250 km, as well as the ARES-2NC electronic reconnaissance system of Aselsan.
