เรือชั้น Kasturi ที่มีการอัพเกรด ช่วงครึ่งอายุใช้งาน สำหรับลำแรก คือ KD Kasturi ดำเนินการเสร็จแล้ว เตรียมกลับเข้าประจำการ ทร.มาเลเซีย

http://www.malaysiandefence.com/?p=3932

Back in the Saddle, Again

Marhalim Abas January 17, 2014 Malaysia -RMN

SHAH ALAM: After almost seven years sitting in the dock, KD Kasturi is set to return to operational status. One hurdle however, remains, the ship and its crew need to ace the Operational Readiness Evaluation (ORE) set for next week.

Kasturi Commanding Officer Kdr Mohd Zaidi Ibrahim and his crew are quietly confident passing the ORE with flying colours. After spending the last three months or so conducting sea trials which was preceded with the Workup phase to get ready for the ORE, it was evident Kasturi’s hardworking crew did not want to fail at the last hurdle.

He was speaking to reporters during a visit to the ship berthed at the Lumut Naval Base on Jan 15.

According to Mohd Zaidi, the Workup phase and the ORE were a normal procedure for ship coming out from a long term refit. He said the ORE determine whether a ship’s crew were ready for all the operational tasking ordered by the RMN.

On the Service Life Extension Programme (SLEP), Mohd Zaidi said it extended the service life of the ship to another 15 years. Kasturi and her sister ship, KD Lekir were built in the HDW yard, Kiel, Germany in 1982 and was commissioned into the RMN in 1984. Lekir is now at the Boustead Naval Shipyard undergoing the same SLEP as her sister ship.

Unlike Kasturi, Lekir is expected to be ready for sea trials by the end of the year as the SLEP contract and funding had been finalised.

Kasturi’s almost tortured reborn started with a two year refit – where the engines undergo an overhaul while the HVAC – heating, ventilation and air-condition – system was completely replaced. The new HVAC system cured “the aquarium effect” caused by condensation which afflicted Kasturi and Lekir since they sailed back to Malaysia. The ship then spend some 4 years in the yard as the SLEP contract was finalised and funded.

Despite the SLEP, the silhouette of the sister ships remained almost the same as little had been done on the superstructure and various antennas. The DA-08 radar originally from Signaal – which is now under Thales had been upgraded together with WM-22 fire-control radar. Another Thales product, the Mirador IR optronic director is a new addition to Kasturi’s sensor suite which will allow for passive tracking and targetting using the IR system. The hull mounted sonar has been upgraded into a newer model, the Atlas Electronik DSQS-24C.

As the for weapon’s suite, Kasturi is now armed with an eight Exocet MM40 launchers (four launchers installed) amidships, two BS515 triple launcher with AS244S ASW torpedoes on the B position, a 57mm Mk 1 gun on A position and two 30mm MSIDefence DB-30 guns sited port and starboard above the helicopter landing pad.

The MM40 Block II replaced the previous MM38 missiles, the triple torpedo launchers replaced the Bofors 375mm ASW rocket launcher while the Bofors 57mm gun replaced the 100mm Giat gun. The 30mm MSIDefence guns replaced the Emerlec.

In the inside, the Kasturi is now fitted with the Thales TACTICOS combat management system and the L3 Integrated Platform Management System which managed all of the ship’s machineries. The L3 system is similar to the one fitted to the Kedah class. According to Mohd Zaidi, both the CMS and IPMS, were among the latest system available and was very useful as both were very user-friendly. The systems also allowed for more automation of various taskings and for the IPMS allowed remote monitoring from various locations outside the main control room.

Apart from being the most advanced asset of the RMN when initially commissioned, Kasturi also had two RMN chiefs as part of its first crew. Kasturi’s first CO was Admiral Tan Sri Abu Bakar Jamal while the current RMN chief Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar served as the navigation officer at the same period.