Kasturi-class corvette
The Kasturi-class corvettes are two ships of the Royal Malaysian Navy, KD Kasturi and KD Lekir. They were acquired in the mid-1980s. The two ships constitute the Malaysian Navy's 22nd Corvette Squadron, their homeport being Lumut. After about 25 years of service, they underwent an extensive modernisation known as Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) starting in 2009, enabling them to be employed for another 10 to 15 years. They have since been returned to active duty.
KD Lekir (F26) with USS Bunker Hill | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Kasturi class |
| Builders | Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft |
| Operators | Royal Malaysian Navy |
| Preceded by | Laksamana class |
| Completed | 2 |
| Active | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | FS 1500 corvette |
| Displacement | 1850 tons full load |
| Length | 98 m (322 ft) |
| Beam | 11.5 m (38 ft) |
| Draft | 3.5 m (11 ft) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) |
| Range | 5,000 nmi (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Complement | 124 |
| Sensors and processing systems |
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| Electronic warfare & decoys |
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| Armament |
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| Aircraft carried | 1 x Super Lynx 300 |
| Aviation facilities | Helicopter landing platform |
The two ships of the class are named after Hang Kasturi and Hang Lekir, two heroic figures from the Malay 15th-century epic narrative Hikayat Hang Tuah. They share this characteristic with the two Lekiu-class frigates, KD Lekiu and KD Jebat, as well as the old frigate-turned-training ship KD Hang Tuah, all of which are named after figures from the epic as well.