A Strong Signature from the Turkish Defense Industry to Malaysia

Türkiye’s maritime engineering powerhouse STM Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret A.Ş. has added another achievement to its export successes. The last of the three corvettes being built under the LMS Batch-2 (Littoral Mission Ship Batch-2) Program for the Royal Malaysian Navy, with STM as the main contractor, TUNKU OSMAN JEWA, was launched at a ceremony held at Istanbul Naval Shipyard on August 9, 2026. Thus, all three corvettes within the scope of the project have been successfully launched.

The ceremony was attended by Kedah Sultan Al Aminul Karim Sultan Sallehuddin Ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah of Malaysia, Sultanah of Kedah Sultanah Maliha binti Almarhum Tengku Ariff, Chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces General Datuk Haji Malek Razak bin Sulaiman, Vice President of the Presidency of Defence Industries of the Republic of Türkiye Mustafa Murat Şeker, Vice President of SSB and Chairman of the Board of STM Prof. Dr. İhsan Kaya, Deputy Commander of the Royal Malaysian Navy Vice Admiral Datuk Badarudin bin Taha, STM General Manager Özgür Güleryüz, as well as military delegations from both countries and representatives of defence industry companies.

“The technology of approximately 50 Turkish companies is on the Malaysian corvettes”

In his speech, Vice President of the Presidency of Defence Industries Mustafa Murat Şeker drew attention to Türkiye’s military shipbuilding ecosystem and said: “In line with the vision of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Türkiye has built a strong and capable defence industry ecosystem through years of determination, investment and innovation. Today, Türkiye is among the few countries in the world capable of independently designing and building its own warships and carrying out system integration. Within this project, carried out under the main contracting of STM, the ships are being equipped with advanced technology systems developed by approximately 50 Turkish defence industry companies, particularly ASELSAN, HAVELSAN and ROKETSAN. God willing, the three corvettes that we will deliver next year will successfully serve the Royal Malaysian Navy for many years, while also becoming lasting symbols of the strong friendship and strategic partnership between Türkiye and Malaysia.”

“These corvettes will strengthen our ability to protect our seas”

Chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces General Datuk Haji Malek Razak bin Sulaiman referred to Malaysia’s status as a maritime nation and the strategic importance of the seas for the country’s security, saying: “These corvettes will contribute to the gradual replacement of our ageing vessels and will strengthen the Royal Malaysian Navy’s ability to protect our seas in an increasingly complex operational environment. The pace of progress of this program demonstrates the strength of the partnership between Malaysia and Türkiye, while also pointing to new opportunities that will further advance our defence cooperation. I would like to thank STM, Istanbul Shipyard, the Royal Malaysian Navy Project Team and all the workers involved in the project. The launch is a milestone, not the end of the journey. We must maintain this momentum and deliver all the ships by the end of 2027.”

“3 corvettes launched in 4 months”

STM General Manager Özgür Güleryüz stated that they had successfully implemented one of the most concrete examples of the strategic cooperation between Türkiye and Malaysia, saying: “As part of this project, which is the first government-to-government (G2G) defence trade agreement between Türkiye and Malaysia and Türkiye’s first corvette export to the Asia-Pacific region, we are proud to launch our third and final ship, TUNKU OSMAN JEWA, today. Thus, by successfully launching three corvettes in just four months, we have passed another important milestone in our project. With the completion of the launching phase, we are now moving on to outfitting, system integration, and harbour and sea acceptance tests. We aim to deliver all three ships to the Royal Malaysian Navy in 2027 by continuing our work with the same determination and diligence.”

TUNKU OSMAN JEWA

The ships being built under the project are named after individuals who made significant contributions to Malaysian history and defence. The first ship is named after TUNKU LAKSAMANA ABDUL JALIL, known by the title “Prince-Admiral”; the second ship bears the name of RAJA LAUT, who holds an important place in the maritime and regional trade history of Selangor. The third ship launched was named after General (Ret.) Tan Sri Tunku Osman Tunku Mohammad Jewa, Malaysia’s third Chief of the Armed Forces.

STM LMS Batch-II ship specifications

With the MİLGEM project developed under the leadership of the Turkish Naval Forces and the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB), Türkiye became one of the 10 countries in the world capable of designing and building its own warships. Today, through SSB’s export vision, Türkiye contributes to its economy while also enhancing the defence capabilities of friendly and brotherly countries.

In this context, the “Signing Ceremony for the Memorandum of Understanding on Government-to-Government (G2G) Procurement of Defence Products between Türkiye and Malaysia” and the “Letter of Acceptance (LoA) Delivery Ceremony for the Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) Batch 2 Project to be procured for the Royal Malaysian Navy” were held in Ankara on June 10.

The steel-cutting ceremony for the ships was held on December 4, 2024, while the block-laying ceremony took place in Istanbul on April 8, 2025. The first ship of the project was launched on May 24, 2026, the second ship on June 7, 2026, and the third and final ship on August 9, 2026, at ceremonies held on the respective dates.

Three corvettes designed and customized by STM to meet the requirements of the Royal Malaysian Navy are being built in Türkiye at Istanbul Naval Shipyard under the Littoral Mission Ship Batch 2 (LMSB2) Project. STM serves as the main contractor responsible for all stages of the project, from design and performance to construction and delivery of the ships. STM is responsible for ship design, project management, construction management, material and system procurement, integration design and assembly, testing, and Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) activities, as well as the preparation of design and ILS documentation related to the project.

Under the project, the construction and outfitting of the ships are being carried out in Türkiye with extensive participation from Turkish defence industry companies. The ships being built under STM’s main contracting will feature the 30 mm MUHAFIZ (SMASH) Remote-Controlled Stabilized Gun System, CENK 3D Search Radar, ARES 2D Surface Radar Electronic Support (ED) System, AKREP Fire Control Radar, Chaff Countermeasure System, Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) System and other electronic sensors developed by ASELSAN; the ATMACA Anti-Ship Missile developed by ROKETSAN; and the Combat Management System (CMS) and 76 mm gun fire control system developed by HAVELSAN.

The ships will have a length of 99.56 metres and a displacement of 2,500 tonnes, with a maximum speed of 26 knots, a helicopter landing platform and a personnel capacity of 111.