The as-yet unnamed first of a planned 27 MEKO 100RMN patrol vessels for the Royal Malaysian Navy was launched by Blohm + Voss at Hamburg, Germany, on 21 March 2003 and is seen here being eased into the cargo well of the heavy-lift ship Condock-IV, which left for Malaysia on 1 April. Now at the PSC-Naval Dockyard Sdn Bhd (PSC-NDSB) facility at Lumut, the 299-foot, 1,650-ton (full-load displacement) ship will complete fitting out and run trials in preparation for commissioning on 1 June 2004. Blohm + Voss laid down the second ship of the class on 21 December 2002, but the other four in the initial $1.42-billion contract are to be assembled by PSC-NDSB in Malaysia with gradually decreasing German technical assistance. Powered by two Caterpillar 3616 diesels, the ships will have top speeds of 22 knots, a range of 6,050 nautical miles at 12 knots, and a 21-day endurance. Armament includes a 76-mm OTO Melara Rapid gun mount forward, a 30-mm OTOMelara-Mauser gun atop the hangar, and two machine guns. Late in 2002, the patrol mission was augmented to include an antisubmarine capability, to be fulfilled by the ships' yet-to-be-selected medium-weight helicopters. Contracts for the additional 21 ships have not yet been placed, and rising costs may curtail the program.
Type 212 air-independent propulsion (AIP) submarine V-31, seen here on sea trials on 7 April 2003, is to be commissioned in the German Navy on 30 March 2004. The 1,840-ton (submerged displacement), 187-foot submarine is the first of four on order for Germany; two others, the Salvatore Todaro and the Sirce, are building in Italy. All are powered by nine 34-kw Siemens Polymer Electrolytic Membrance fuel cells, with a single 1,040-kw diesel generator set to charge the boats' batteries. The 2,400-shaft-horsepower Siemens Permasyn motor can produce up to 20-knot submerged speeds, while the AIP system can provide 8-knot speeds for a range of 8,000 nautical miles. A slightly larger export variant, the Type 214, is on order for Greece (four submarines) and the Republic of Korea (three). The Type 214 has two 120-kw Siemens fuel cells and two diesel generator sets, resulting in less speed and range on the AIP system but greater endurance on the diesel-electric component. These are not inexpensive submarines: the German Submarine Consortium recently bid about $2 billion to construct three for Portugal, while France's DCN bid $1.89 billion for an AIP-equipped version of its Scorpene design. The Portuguese government, stunned by the cost, reduced the planned buy to two and requested a new round of bidding.
The largest vessel yet built for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), the approximately 25,000-ton full load displacement fleet replenishment oiler Masyu was launched on 5 February 2003 by Matsui at Tamano. The 725-foot, 24-knot ship is powered by two 20,000-brake-horsepower diesels and will have a range of 9,500 nautical miles at 20 knots. In a first for a JMSDF auxiliary, the ship will be armed with two Phalanx Block 1B close-in weapon systems and two machine guns, an evident response to Japan's growing role in international peacekeeping operations. On commissioning in March 2004, the naval-crewed Masyu will replace the 1979-vintage Sagami, but the second ship of the class, scheduled for launch in February 2004, will enhance the present fleet of four replenishment ships, which also includes three 15,850-ton Towada-class oilers completed between 1987 and 1990.