New Generation Patrol Vessels
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KD Kelantan
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| Class overview | |
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| Builders: |
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| Operators: |
 Royal Malaysian Navy
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| Preceded by: | Vosper PC (31 Metre Patrol Craft) |
| Planned: | 27 |
| Completed: | 6 |
| Cancelled: | 21 |
| Active: | 6 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | MEKO 100 RMN |
| Displacement: | 1,850 tons full load |
| Length: | 91.1 m (299 ft) |
| Beam: | 12.85 m (42.2 ft) |
| Draught: | 3.4 m (11 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Main Propulsion: 2x Caterpillar 3616 (5,450kW) diesel, 16,000 bhp, 2 shafts, 2 controllable pitch propellers |
| Speed: | 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) |
| Range: | 6,050 nautical miles (11,200 km; 6,960 mi) |
| Endurance: | 21 days |
| Complement: | 78 (accom. for 98) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Electronic warfare & decoys: |
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| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 1 x Super Lynx 300 |
| Aviation facilities: |
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The Kedah-class offshore patrol vessels of the Royal Malaysian Navy are six ships based on the MEKO 100 design by Blohm + Voss. Originally, a total of 27 ships was planned, but due to programme delays and overruns, only six were eventually ordered. Their construction began in the early 2000s, and by 2009, all six were in active service. Presently, they are the most modern surface ships in the Royal Malaysian Navy. The six vessels are named after Malaysian states.
While their size and tonnage implies the Kedah-class ships to be corvettes, they are classified as offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) by the Royal Malaysian Navy, a category more common with law enforcement or coast guard vessels, not naval warships. This is rooted in the fact that the Kedah class was delivered in a condition named for but not with, meaning that certain weapon systems were not included in the original purchase, but all provisions to install and use them, including sensors and electronics, are already present in the ships. The weapons themselves can be easily "plugged in" with little delay as soon as the Malaysian Navy has purchased them. These purchases however have not yet been made. Currently, the Kedah-class vessels are armed with guns only (76 mm gun on the bow, 30 mm gun on the aft), making them quite lightly armed and fairly vulnerable for naval ships of their size, thus justifying their listing as OPVs rather than proper corvettes.
In the 1990s, the Royal Malaysian Navy identified the need to replace their ageing patrol boats. These 31 m long vessels built by Vosper Ltd with a displacement of 96 tons had been in service since the 1960s. After receiving government approval, the Malaysian Navy ran a competition for the design in 1996, planning to purchase 27 vessels over 15 years. The specifications aimed for a design with a displacement of 1,300 tons and an overall length of 80 m. It was already noted at that time that this resembled full-fledged corvettes rather than patrol vessels, but the eventual winning bid would turn out to be even larger. The Australian bid proposed a Joint Patrol Vessel, to be designed by Australian Transfield Shipbuilding and subsequently purchased by the Malaysian Navy as well as the Royal Australian Navy. Other contenders were the German Naval Group consortium as well as British shipyards Vosper Thornycroft and Yarrow Shipbuilders.
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Wikipedia