Besides all being cool having the capability to be packed into a completely random shipping container for CAMO!! (I wonder what inconspicuous form does the search/tracking radar take on? cement mixer perhaps?), any advantages/disadvantages over BrahMos? Because from what I'm reading,Klub missile acts more like a Russian Tomahawk subsonic Cruise missile rather than straight-up Anti-Shipping missile. And the BrahMos' big talking point is the mach 3.5 speed.

Multipurpose cruise missile maybe impressive,but surely they cost a lot more than purpose-built anti-ship missiles due to the more advanced on-board computers and guidance systems and whatnot. With Malaysian government's notorious penny-pinching when buying defense assets,a smaller arsenal being a trade-off of a few advanced missiles is not a good deal.

Also someone made a good point,can you legally disguise the transport & deployment of weapons as civilian stuff? I thought all military weapons needs to be marked as such? Probably on some Geneva convention clause or somewhere? I suppose you can play with technicalities,like disguising a missile launcher truck as a normal military transport truck,but I feel launching missiles from a civilian looking shipping container breaks some international law somewhere.

It is actually really difficult to sink a ship. Unless you totally destroy the hull integrity,the hull can be afloat as long as the bulkheads hold,even if the entire superstructure has been blown away. Usually just 1-2 hits from anti-ship missiles won't sink even a small frigate. For example, HMS Sheffield after being hit with an Argentine Exocet (that didn't even explode!) burned for nearly a week from a broken diesel pipe before sinking due to heavy seas when towboats tried to salvage the hull before even patching up the impact hole.

Beware chinese photoshop masters.

Russian Air Force Strizhi (Swifts) Mig-29 and Russkiye Vityazi (Russian Knights) Su-27

Give examples pls.

Also since when do guided missiles,whoever makes them,are cheap? Moreover western-built missiles may be more expensive than BrahMos (as most western built weapons are).

First close up pics of Indian navy SSBN missile sub, INS Arihant

The INS Arihant was launched in 2009 and is slated to start full service with the Indian navy in early 2015. The sub is powered by a full-power nuclear reactor and can dive up to 350 meters. It is armed with 6 533mm torpedoes for self-defense and a payload of either 12 K-15 Sagarika nuclear capable short-range SLBMs or 6 K-4 medium-range nuclear SLBMs.

Talking about anti-ship missiles, I thought I saw photos from a parade in KL where they showcased a KH-31 (AS-17 'Krypton") but as I looked it up & found out what we have is only the anti-radiation missile version. No anti-ship version of KH-31 in our arsenal?



Also, are there any more reliable methods of testing anti-ship missiles than shooting it at an old ship or floating barge/container? It seems to me shooting a guided missile at a stationary target that don't fight back is not exactly an exact simulation of real world anti-shipping warfare scenarios and a test of true tracking/evasion capabilities of a missile.

I mean, any decent missile can do a straight run & hit a dumb stationary target.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Sep 12 2014, 09:10 AM

I reckon if Malaysian Navy wants to install newer,heavier missiles onto our ships,we must do heavy modifications & refits rite?

As far as I know,most of these types must be launched vertically from VLS canisters and the canisters,due to size, are installed inside the hull itself, unlike smaller missiles (Exocet or Harpoon for example) that is put on modular canisters above deck and can be installed without relatively major modifications to the ship's design. Or are there a a version that is launched from modular canisters from above decks? (I know Russian P-500 Bazalt launchers are in containers on deck,but that's rather the exception than the,as I haven't seen any similar setup since)


Exocet MM-38 missile launch containers

Our ships too small to install VLS you mean?


On a side note, any latest news on the Malaysian Gowind frigate order? Construction still progressing as planned I hope? Fingers crossed we won't have another Lekiu-class fiasco.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Sep 12 2014, 12:22 PM

PLA launches newest Type 056 Jiangdao corvette


Type 056 number 594 under fitting after a successfull launch & sea trials

The PLA recently launched its latest ship in the Type 056 corvette line (Number 503). The ship line,classified as a missile corvette, is 89 meters long and weighs 1,300 tons in displacement. The Type 056 is designed for modularity, with 4 modular design modules able to be fitted onto the basic hull (Anti-Ship, Anti-Submarine, Anti-Aircraft and command flagship versions).

The basic Type 056 is armed with 1x 76mm gun, 2x 30mm CIWS, 1x 8-cell SAM launcher, 4x C803 Anti-ship missiles and 2 torpedo launchers. There is a helipad for a light helicopter, but no hangar bay. The Type 056 has some features to help reduce its detection signature such as an absence of sharp angles on the superstructure that could reflect radar and also an IR masking system on the chimney and engine systems.

While on paper,the Type 056 is somewhat of a good,if unremarkable vessel,what is most notable feature of the Type 056 is the sheer pace of its construction.The PLA ordered 30 units of the vessel for its navy only in 2010 and remarkably the first Type 056 (Bengbu, number 582) was already launched in 2012. In the space of 2 years (2012-2014) the construction companies have launched 22(TWENTY TWO) Type 056 ships!! That's a rate of one vessel per month!!



This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Sep 15 2014, 04:45 PM

Indian Air Force DRDO AEW/CS

India accepts INS Kolakata Guided Missile Destroyer into service


Kolkata-class Guided missile destroyer INS Kolkata

As of August 2014, the Indian Navy has received the Kolkata-class guided missile destroyer INS Kolkata into service. The ship, built locally at Magazon Shipyards in Mumbai, India is the first accepted into service from 3 of its class currently in the fitting stage (INS Kochi) and advanced sea trials (INS Chennai). The ships were originally scheduled to be taken into service in 2010,but discovered flaws in design pushed the date to 2014. The rest of the class is expected to be delivered in 2016 (INS Kochi)and 2017 (INS Chennai.

The Kolkata-class destroyers are 168 meters in length and weigh 7,500 tons in displacement. The ships are powered by a turbine engine and have a complement of 350 officers & crewmen. Ships of the class are installed with an AESA type radar and advanced fire-control systems. Armament-wise, they are armed with a potent mix of offensive and defensive weaponries. These include:

Anti-Aircraft weapons:

2x 32 cell VLS launch system capable of launching either Barak-1 (medium-range)or Barak-8 (long-range) SAM missiles
4x 6-barreled AK630 30mm CIWS gun system
1x 76mm Multirole cannon

Anti-Ship weapons:

2x 8 cell VLS launcher for BrahMos Anti-Ship missile

Anti-Submarine weapons:

2x Anti-Submarine missile launchers
4x 533mm Torpedo launchers

The ships are also equipped with a helicopter landing pad and hangar facilities for 2 observation/ASW helicopters.

Wow,what a funky look.I somehow imagined this sub as being able to go to space and launch Mobile suits.

Happy birthday Malaysia, may the federation forever be as one.

PLA Navy to receive 3 more Yuzhao-Class LPD by 2017

In addition to the three Yuzhao-Class LPD ships already in service (Kunlun Shan, Jianggang Shan & Changbai Shan), the PLA is set to receive the rest of the Yuzhao-Class ships by 2017.

The Tanggula Shan & Tai Shan is set to be launched in 2015 and after fittings, scheduled to be in full service by 2017. Another hull is still under preliminary construction and may be launched by 2018. The three ships already in service is deployed in the PLA South seas fleet,based on Hainan island. All the 3 future deliveries are slated to be deployed in the East Seas fleet at Ningbo, Zhejiang province.


Graphic cutout showing interior of a Yuzhao-Class LPD



This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Sep 16 2014, 10:19 AM

Numerically, PLA Navy can be largest navy in eastern hemisphere in the next 5 years. Maybe in 10 years PRC military as a whole can reach contemporary US military's level.

Right now, I'm really interested in the PLA Type 052D DDGs. This is another example of the Chinese shipyards' ridiculously fast pace of ship-building. The PLA had just ordered 13 of the powerful destroyers in 2012, but 3 are already under service (Kunming, Changsha & Guiyang) while 4 more are under advanced stages of construction & fittings (Chengdu, Heifiei, Nanjing, Yinchuan & Taiyuan) and should be launched around 2016. The remaining 6 on order will start construction on the finishing of the ships currently under order.


Three Kunming-Class DDGs under adavanced stages of construction

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Sep 16 2014, 12:29 PM

In all my years as a military fanboi, one thing I learnt is never to take any of these military ranking seriously. Most of these figures are based on quality instead of quality. Of course they may help,but how many tanks you have doesn't correspond on actually how good you use them in actual combat. For me these rankings more of a d*ck-measuring contest if anything.

Although, even if some people would choose to believe those rankings, I think any sane military fanboi around here can actually see how absurd that Philippine military with second-hand 40 year old ships, no heavy tanks and practically no Air Force can possibly be higher in rank than Malaysian military.

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Sep 17 2014, 06:13 AM

Secret discussions revealed: US asks Malaysia for Maritime Reconnaissance base in Sabah


A Boeing P-8 Poseidon Maritime Reconnaissance Aircraft

According to a senior diplomat familiar with the talks, the US have been discussing with Malaysian government officials for 'some time' on the possibility of a basing agreement in the Malaysian state of Sabah for US P-8 Poseidon maritime reconnaissance planes to monitor the South China Sea.

The statement seems to have been confirmed by the US Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert when he spoke at a forum in Washington last week. He was quoted as "the recent offer by Malaysia for P-8 Poseidon aircraft to fly out of the country’s most eastern area would give the United States greater proximity to the South China Sea".

Malaysian Defense minister Tun Hishamuddin Hussein,when asked by local press about an agreement for a Malaysian-US deal on 'US fighters' to operate out of Sabah, the minister replied: "that is not true".

(Although as P-8 Poseidons are not "fighter" planes.... so technically the MENHAN did not lie.... )

News Link:Malaysia to base US Navy Poseidons?

This post has been edited by MilitaryMadness: Sep 17 2014, 11:22 AM

I'm more surprised the US just don't base them in the Philippines and be done with it. From there they basically have the same area of coverage in the Spratlys. They got more beef with China & Pinoys are already US cronies anyway. Sure won't have any objections.