Malaysia's French-designed, Spanish-built sub sails home

THE Royal Malaysian Navy's (RMN) second Scorpene submarine, the KD Tun Razak, reached Malaysia's Lumut naval base recently after a 64-day voyage from its designers in the south of France.

The contract between the Malaysian government and French naval armaments manufacturer DCNS (Direction des Constructions Navales Services) for two Scorpene subs was signed in 2002. The other sub, the KD Tunku Abdul Rahman reached home waters on July 2.

The Scorpene was designed by DCNS and developed jointly by DCNS and Spanish naval shipbuilder Navantia. The design features a range of advanced technologies - particularly in hydrodynamics, acoustic discretion and automation - drawing on state-of-the-art innovations developed for other submarine programmes.

The KD Tun Razak's 7,283-nautical mile voyage took the sub through the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Malacca Straits, stopping off at Alexandria, Jeddah, Salalah and Cochin. In Teluk Sepanggar, the KD Tun Razak will undergo maintenance before sea trials in the tropical waters.

With a displacement of 1,550 tonnes for a length overall of 67.5 metres, is manned by 31 crew and can be put to sea for 45 days.
(Source:www.schednet.com)