What I want to write about is that there seems to be a rumor spreading in cyber space that there is a Dokdo type smaller sized Landing Platform Helicopter that has started building in a Korean yard for Malaysia. This would make Malaysia the second navy that operates a flat-top ship in the region if true.
Personally I am sceptical about this as it would be very difficult for such news to be kept under wraps, especially news that can be spinned politically. It becomes more doubtful to me especially as the reportedly preferred Korean shipbuilder to build a multi purpose support ship(MPSS) for Malaysia lacks any flat top shipbuilding experience.
My take is that if the story is actually true and a ship is building in Korea for Malaysia, it may be for a version of the Royal Navy MARS (Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability) Tanker where the shipyard was recently awarded as the preferred bidder in February 2012. To be operated by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the ship is as shown below.
Nonetheless the vessels that will each be just over 200 metres in length, 28 metres in beam, and have a displacement of over 37,000 tonnes may be a bit too large for our navy to operate, so a scaled-down version is more likely as it seems that the Navy wants a 10,000 tonnes ship instead. To me the new logistic support vessels design would meet the Navy’s MPSS requirements better than a flat-top anyway. We'll just have to wait and see what is the truth if there is any to the story. 
3 comments:
Salam bro, this is part of component for 2 nos of FPSO ordered by MISC.
http://bacajela.blogspot.com/2012/03/airsea-battle-and-its-indo-pacific.html
the truth is out there
tybear :P
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