Recently, the Malaysian Navy announced the start of construction of the second batch of coastal mission ships. Coastal mission ships generally refer to light vessels used for diversified tasks such as coastal patrols, fishing protection, search and rescue, and anti smuggling, usually serving as maritime law enforcement platforms. The second batch of Malaysian navy's offshore mission ships are designed with reference to Türkiye's island class frigates, which can significantly improve the anti surface, air defense and electronic warfare capabilities of the country's navy. The coastal mission ship is an important component of the Malaysian Navy's "15 to 5" fleet transformation plan. The "15 to 5" fleet transformation plan aims to significantly optimize the structure of the country's naval fleet by simplifying the models, reducing the current 15 types of ships to 5 types, and creating modern coastal combat ships with local anti submarine combat capabilities and high seas patrol capabilities. Due to the lack of experience in operating large main combat vessels in the Malaysian Navy and the fact that the operational waters are mainly offshore, the first batch of coastal mission ships proposed in the "15 to 5" fleet transformation plan have a displacement of only 700 tons and are mainly used as maritime law enforcement vessels to replace the various types of ships equipped by the Malaysian Navy. From 2019 to the end of 2021, the first batch of four coastal mission ships were successively commissioned. Subsequently, the Malaysian Navy revised and improved the combat technology indicators of subsequent vessels, and publicly tendered the second batch of coastal mission ships in September 2020. Türkiye Defense Company won the bid to build the first three ships. The second batch of coastal mission ships is expected to be completed by the end of 2027 and delivered to the Malaysian Navy. The second batch of coastal mission ships are developed based on Türkiye island frigates, highlighting the requirements of maneuverability and seakeeping, and adopting comprehensive stealth design. The ship is 99.56 meters long and 14.42 meters wide, with a displacement of 2500 tons, which is more than three times the tonnage of the first batch of coastal mission ships. The ship adopts a dual axis propulsion system with diesel diesel combined power, with a maximum speed of 26 knots and a range of over 7400 kilometers at a cruising speed of 14 knots. It has a crew of 111 and can sustain itself at sea for 14 days. There is one rigid inflatable boat at the stern and one on the side of the ship, and the stern helicopter deck can take off and land helicopters weighing around 10 tons. The weapon systems equipped on the second batch of coastal mission ships mainly include 76mm naval guns, 30mm automatic weapon stations, 12.7mm remote-controlled weapon stations, 4-unit domestically produced anti-ship missile launch devices, and 2-unit vertical launch systems, with anti surface warfare, air defense, and electronic warfare capabilities. In the future, the ship will be able to conduct joint operations with the Malaysian Navy's new generation patrol ships and coastal combat ships to jointly carry out maritime combat missions, which may further enhance the Malaysian Navy's maritime capabilities. (New Society)