It's Official

Finally, the names of the two Malaysian's Scorpene submarine has been made public a few weeks ago. Going to be christened the Perdana Menteri class (The Prime Minister Class) the two subs will be known as KD Tunku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Abdul Razak. The subs were named after the late first two Prime Ministers of Malaysia. But no news about the name of the third submarine, given free of charge by the French Navy as a training platform. The former Ouessant, an Agosta 90B class,  a refitted French submarine, is about a high threat to any ship as the Scorpenes. Both submarines are capable of launching the Exocett SM39 underwater-to-surface missiles.

The names made me think of two things. Firstly, okay, they are powerful or maybe power-projection platforms that they decided its worth of Prime Minister Class and therefore got Prime Minister names. But this also made me think that the Royal Malaysian Navy is not planning to acquire new subs for a long time. Simply because, there are only four ex-Prime Ministers of Malaysia! I remember how an ex-Admiral of the RMN said that we need at least 10 submarines to patrol the Malaysian Exclusive Economic Zone!

Maybe we are not that rich to continues acquiring submarines all the time. If this is the case, then the Scorpenes are the best platforms to multiply  a submarine's capability. They are simply the newest and the most technologically-advanced diesel-electric submarine in the world. I can't wait for 2009 when both of the subs will be coming to Malaysian waters. Viva Malaysia!


The Prime Minister class SSK Scorpene Attack Submarine


The Ouessant, an Agosta 90B class, can dive deeper than its predecessor, the Agosta class.