Despite Malaysia being a country composed of two halves, namely Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia, separated by the South China Sea, the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) is quite undersized relative to the scale of its tasks - consisting of only 39 surface ships and 2 submarines. The smallness of the NMR becomes even more acute when one considers the fact that Malaysia constitutes half of the vital Strait of Malacca and the scale of Malaysia's claims in the 200 NM EEZ - which includes parts of the Spratly Islands contested disputes which are also claimed by China and Taiwan. , Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei. Matters for the RMN are not made easier by the fact that a significant portion of the surface fleet has seen more than 20 years of service, resulting in these ships spending increasing amounts of time in maintenance and repair. Since the 1990s, the RMN has continually planned to increase the size and capabilities of its fleet, but much of its plans have been thwarted or delayed by the Malaysian government's approach to defense development, where Planned defense programs are either executed or postponed. based on political expediency. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayTwo cases illustrate this, the first being the RMN's Multi-Purpose Support Ship (MPSS) requirement. This project was initially planned to be implemented under the 8th Malaysia Plan (2001-2005), but has not yet been realized - despite the loss in a fire in 2009 of the Royal Navy's only ship capable of amphibious operations Malaysian, the Newport LST KD Sri Inderapura class. Instead, the Malaysian government continues to postpone the program on an annual basis, although the RMN emphasizes the urgent need for the MPSS program. The second case concerns the canceled Batch 2 Lekiu-class frigates. In 2006, the Malaysian government had signed a letter of intent with BAE Systems to build two follow-on ships to the 2 existing Lekiu-class frigates already in service in the NMR. The second batch vessels were to be built locally at the Labuan Shipyard and Engineering Shipyard. However, in August 2009, it was reported that the Malaysian government and BAE Systems had reached an agreement not to continue with the deal due to cost-cutting measures taken by the Malaysian government. To counterbalance these setbacks in force development, the acquisition of two Scorpène submarines was carried out and the establishment of a submarine operational capability. However, the circumstances surrounding this market remain a constant source of political controversy in Malaysia. The RMN has been inadvertently involved and the soon-to-be-announced follow-on program will be the currently in-service Kedah-class Next Generation Patrol Vessel (NGPV), the RMN Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Despite the LCS moniker, the six ships planned for construction under this program will be of conventional hull design rather than the unconventional designs of the US LCS program. Despite these developments, the RMN must enter 2012 with deep reductions in its needs. For the 2012 defense budget, the Royal Malaysian Navy requested MYR4.39 billion ($1.4 billion) for procurement and equipment procurement, but received only MYR759 million ( $243 million) instead. This reduction will not affect the LCS program which is funded under a special allocation - but the result is that the RMN will have to postpone some of its planned programsfor 2012 such as the acquisition of 6 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters and the modernization of the armament of the Kedah class NGPVs. In terms of operational organization, the RMN consists of four operational commands, with the Fleet Operations Command overseeing 3 area commands. A fifth operational command, Submarine Command, is being established to oversee not only submarine operations, but also the training, support and administration of submarine operations. of NMR. The Fleet Operations Command, located at RMN Lumut, is also responsible for all RMN missions overseas. Currently, the RMN has only one operational mission overseas, namely "Operation Fajar", an ongoing mission to escort merchant ships belonging to the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation through piracy-infested waters near of the Gulf of Aden. The mission was triggered by the seizure of two of the MISC vessels in September 2008 by pirates and since then the RMN has been conducting an open-ended anti-piracy escort mission in the region. Initially, ships from the RMN fleet carried out these escort missions, but the costs as well as the wear and tear of the ships assigned to them led the navy, in collaboration with the MISC, to propose an alternative solution. This is a MISC merchant ship converted to operate as a naval auxiliary ship in the region. Thus, the container ship Bunga Mas Lima was converted into an auxiliary ship of the RMN on June 1, 2009, after the completion of work on modifying the ship for its task. Modifications to the 699 TEU container ship (owned by MISC) included the installation of a helicopter landing deck, small arms racks, military-grade communications and medical facilities, the ability to launch the small RMN boats and a repainting of the ship in RMN colors. MISC personnel designated as Naval Reservists form the ship's crew. In addition, a combined special forces team comprising all three services of the Malaysian Armed Forces as well as a medical team and an NMR naval helicopter detachment with a single helicopter are also stationed on board the ship. The success of this operation led to the launch of a second naval auxiliary, Bunga Mas 6, in August this year, to operate simultaneously in the region with Bunga Mas 5. One ship escorts the westbound vessels while the The other will escort ships heading east. However, budgetary and operational constraints have not allowed the RMN to have an additional helicopter detachment to operate, which is why the only RMN helicopter present in the area will be deployed on one or other vessel depending on needs. The three main operational commands of the RMN are COMNAV I, located at RMN Kuantan, which is responsible for the eastern coast of the Malaysian Peninsula and that part of the South China Sea which includes the 200 miles of Malaysia's EEZ , as well as the waters along the Singapore Strait. COMNAV II, located at RMN Sepanggar, is responsible for the entire coastline and waters of the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, as well as the various seas surrounding them which form part of Malaysia's EEZ claims 200 miles. COMNAV III, located at NMR Langkawi, is responsible for the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and the Strait of Malacca. The RMN also distributes some of its surface ships among the three area commands while the remaining ships are deployed to areas based on operational or training needs. The two submarines are permanently stationed atRMN Sepanggar in the COMNAV II area of ​​operations. Although all three naval commands are important, COMNAV II is considered the major operational challenge as the East Malaysian state of Sabah, whose waters fall under COMNAV II, faces the South China Sea, the Sulu Sea and the Celebes Sea. The South China Sea portion of COMNAV II includes the disputed Spratly Islands. Malaysia currently maintains 5 military outposts there, the largest being the Lima Naval Base on Swallow Reef. Various works undertaken since its initial occupation in 1983 have led to the reef becoming an island approximately 7.3 km long and 2.2 meters wide. This gives it approximately 6 hectares of land space with a runway capable of accommodating C-130 transport aircraft and a dock allowing RMN patrol boats to operate from there. Since 1999, Malaysia has not added additional outposts in the Spratlys beyond the current five. The Spratlys and the area of ​​the South China Sea surrounding them are known by NMR as the "Gugusan Semarang Peninjau" (GSP) operational area, which roughly translates to "Frontier Reconnaissance Island Chain" in English. The importance of the GSP area is illustrated by the base of the Scorpène class 2 submarine recently acquired by the RMN at RMN Sepanggar. The submarines completed their weapons firing trials and initial operational capabilities training phase with the first fleet exercise involving the submarine KD Tunku Abdul Rahman, which took place from July 29 to August 6 2010 in the South China Sea. The exercise - known as Operation Sea Training Exercise / Fleet Integration Training With Submarine 2010 (OSTEX/SUB FIT 2010) - involved 10 other NMR ships. These included the frigates KD Lekiu and KD Lekir and the patrol vessels KD Perak, KD Terengganu, KD Pahang and KD Kedah and 1,000 personnel from the RMN and the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). and air defense teams. The RMAF deployed 2 BAE Hawks, a Beechcraft 200T maritime patrol aircraft and an S-61 helicopter for the exercise. The exercise took place from the NMR COMNAV 2 HQ. An official RMN press release on the activity stated that the aim of the exercise was to assess the readiness of the RMN fleet, develop the capabilities of the RMN and RMAF in operations with submarines, to highlight the presence of NMR in the South China Sea and to test emergency situations. plans for the defense of NMR posts located in the Spratly Islands. The RMN, however, organized much of the training and gunnery exercises involving submarines well away from the Spratlys so as not to inflame the contenders. The NMR has also openly stated that it must highlight its presence in the South China Sea and its contingency plans for the defense of its outposts in the Spratlys. A similar OSTEX exercise took place in July this year, this time involving the two RMN submarines as well as 9 RMN surface ships. Originally, the RMN held three different OSTEX exercises per year, one in the Strait of Malacca, Malaysia's Peninsular Part of the South China Sea, and the Eastern Malaysian Part of the South China Sea. However, in 2010, budgetary restrictions led to the exercises being consolidated into a single activity in the eastern Malaysian part of the South China Sea. This has also been the case this year, with the choice of location for Ostex exercises in 2010 and 2011 clearly indicating the NMR's concern about the Spratly Islands. At the time of writing, it is too early to say what the NMR's programs will be. postponed or postponed indue to the reduction in its funding requests for 2012 purchases. RMN is currently carrying out a review following the announcement of the 2012 allocation in October this year. Among the programs that RMN wants to carry out under the 10th Malaysia Plan 2011-2015 is the purchase of 6 ASW helicopters, with the United States heavily promoting the MH-60R Seahawk to meet this requirement. The six ASW helicopters must be added to the current strength of the RMN naval air wing, made up of six Super Lynx and six Fennec helicopters. Another program that the RMN would like to implement under the 10th Plan is the arming of the 6 in- maintain Kedah class NGPVs with anti-ship and anti-aircraft weapon systems. The ships currently only have a 76mm main gun and 2 30mm cannons as their only weapons. With the cancellation of Batch 2 Lekius, the RMN should be content with a possible upgrade and SLEP of the 2 existing Lekius in service. And the MPSS ship is expected to be delayed yet again due to lack of funding. The silver lining for the RMN will be the expected signing in December this year at the Langkawi Maritime and Aerospace Show (LIMA) of the deal to build the six LCSs – although it remains to be seen when the planned commissioning will take place of these ships. But in the meantime, the RMN should be able to fulfill its missions over the coming years with its current fleet. For Peninsula Malaysians at least, Lumut would be THE naval town where the first base of the Royal Malaysian Navy is located. So, many would not know that Sepanggar Bay in Kota Kinabalu in Sabah would become another prominent naval base where the Naval Command Area 2 or COMNAV 2 is located after being transferred from KD Sri Labuan. This is where our submarines will be based and under COMNAV 3 there are also many units which you can learn about on the COMNAV2 website, although currently only available in English, including the Naval Representative Office of Kuching (RNO/PWTL) and KD Sri Rejang. in Sibu. This position would, however, focus on an isolated area of ​​operations in the RMN, namely the Gugusan Semarang Peninjau naval stations which, after the declaration of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on September 20, 1979, became outposts for validate Malaysia's claims to areas under the EEZ located at least 156 nautical miles from Kota Kinabalu. Includes five resorts originally built on overflowing atolls, with the most developed now expanded into a full-fledged island which is now a popular diving spot in the region. This contrasts with the origins of Layang-Layang Island, when the island began receiving its first human population three years after a claim plaque was erected on the coral atoll. It was at this time, June 21, 1980, that eighteen courageous men from Paskal landed in May 1983 to build the first camp while braving the elements. This place is called Wisma Kaki Langit because at the time the only infrastructure available was a helipad for personnel transfer and the soldiers had to camp in the open on the bare reef. When the naval station proper was built six years later with the construction of a small living and operations quarter, it was also decided that the enlarged island that the atoll became would also be developed into as a tourist attraction so that the tourism potential of the island is exploited. the island can be exploited. Thus, in 1995, other buildings were added, including two air-conditioned accommodation blocks, an aircraft landing strip that could be used by Hercules C-130 and CN235 aircraft, two hangars, a radar station, a tower air traffic control, watchtowers and a pier madeof the island a true island station named Station Lima for the naval men stationed there to safeguard our nation's claims to the region. Patrols of naval soldiers aboard CB90H attack ships and larger, faster patrol boats are carried out around the island. Several anti-ship and anti-aircraft guns are placed in several areas of the island and RMAF personnel operate a Starburst air defense system to prevent low-altitude air attacks. Ubi Reef or Station Uniform was one of the stations whose construction began. in the mid-1980s with the aim of monitoring and protecting territorial waters at international borders. It was built in early 1986 by the Malaysian Shipping Engineering Corporation and in its early days was just a module built atop a barge measuring 60 meters long and 30 meters wide anchored on top of the reef. 'Ubi (Ardasier Reef) which is supposed to be the largest reef in Gugusan Semarang Peninjau. The station was officially opened on April 16, 1986 and is located 16 nautical miles southwest of Lima Station and 25 miles south of Mike Station. In 2000, the station was expanded by filling in the lagoon basin and a canal was constructed to allow the safe passage of the visiting Navy CB90 gunship to enter and dock at the station. A beacon was also constructed about a mile east of the station to guide boats into the lagoon. A buoy was also placed in the middle of the lagoon to make it easier for boats to dock. In general, Station Uniform assets have been significantly upgraded to increase the operational readiness of the station. The next reef to be populated was Station Mike or Mantanani Reef when a habitat module built by the Malaysian Shipping Engineering Corporation was anchored on the reef in mid-September 1986 and was officially opened three months later. Station Mike, 44 meters long, is located approximately 35 nautical miles north of Station Lima and close to a Vietnamese settlement on Amboyna Cay, just 40 nautical miles away. On May 18, 1994, however, the area around the islet was declared a restricted zone, probably due to its proximity to competing forces. The founding story of Station Sierra or Siput Reef began with the construction of a barge-like module on Jerjak Island by PSCND. The module was originally specifically designed as a floating vessel to facilitate towing at sea before anchoring at Siput Reef. The tow was carried out in April 1999 under the code name Ops Sri Petaling, during which the module was towed under cover of disguise to avoid detection by neighboring countries during an operation which lasted almost a month. Sailing and towing operations were undertaken with several NMR vessels in escort until reaching the site and anchoring approximately 16 nautical miles southwest of Mike Station. Location selection and positioning of the module was carried out at high tide so that it could be anchored more easily at low tide and after being found satisfactory, the module was taken ashore and filled with cement and rocks to reinforce its anchoring. This work was completed in early May 1999 and officially named on May 10, 1999. During its initial operations, it was stated that the module was built for marine and scientific research to reduce pressure and misunderstanding from requesting countries. The station was further secured by the extension of Ops Sri Petaling for surveillance and defense purposes to protect the station from any threats, especially from nations opposed to Malaysia's establishment on the station. island. From the.