Malaysia commissions first Keris-class Littoral Mission Ship

The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) has commissioned its first Keris-class Littoral Mission Ship (LMS).

KD Keris (111) was inducted on 6 January at a commissioning ceremony attended by RMN chief Admiral Mohd Reza Bin Mohd Sany in Qidong, China.

KD Keris at its commissioning ceremony on 6 January 2020 in Qidong, China. (Royal Malaysian Navy)

Keris is the first of four LMSs signed under a contract originally worth MYR1.17 billion (USD247.1 million). The contract, which has since been revised down to MYR1.05 billion, was signed between the Malaysian government and the trading subsidiary of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) in April 2017. It is Malaysia’s first naval ship contract with China.

The lead ship was launched in April 2019 at Wuchang Shipbuilding’s facilities in Wuhan, China, followed by second-of-class Sundang (112) in July the same year.

The Keris class has an overall length of 68.8 m, a beam of 9 m, a hull draught of 2.8 m, and displaces about 700 tonnes at full load. It can attain a top speed of 22 kt, with a standard range of about 2,000 n miles at 15 kt.

The LMS can be armed with either a 20 mm or 30 mm naval gun in a remote-controlled weapon station (RCWS) turret as its primary weapon. It can also accommodate two 12.7 mm machine gun positions on the deck area behind the vessel’s bridge.

The LMS can embark one 6 m containerised mission module on a multipurpose deck area in the aft section, and can deploy and recover two rigid-hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) from launchers located at its stern. The warship can accommodate a crew of 45, consisting of eight officers and 37 enlisted personnel.

Keris