KOTA KINABALU: The South China Sea was uncharacteristically calm on Saturday afternoon, in stark contrast to the thunderous roar of cannons ringing in the background.
This impressive display was courtesy of KD Selangor, the Royal Malaysian Navy Eastern Fleet’s latest and most advanced addition, showering a target several miles away with an intimidating barrage of firepower.
A suffocating tension filled the air, as men and women on board the ship stood firmly at their posts.
But KD Selangor was not in battle — this was merely a training excursion in the waters of Sabah, several nautical miles from the Sepanggar naval base.
This was the Eastern Fleet’s first large-scale training operation of the year, involving several of its assets — three ships, including KD Kedah, KD Ganas, and KD Selangor, a Fennac helicopter, and two CB90 assault boats.
Having arrived here on Jan 20 to much fanfare, KD Selangor was naturally the star of the show, with the media invited on board to witness its performance first-hand.
As the youngest of the six Kedah-class patrol vessels, touted as the navy’s most modern surface ships in active duty, KD Selangor does not disappoint. It comes equipped with all the facilities required to keep her crew safe while they patrol Malaysia’s waters.
The exercise kicked off early in the morning, when KD Selangor’s crew demonstrated the ship’s state-of-the-art radar and anti-air defence systems.
Things started heating up when the weapons systems were put to the test, with mock targets in open water falling victim to the ship’s deafeningly powerful cannons.
The accompanying media entourage found themselves in at least two more exciting situations — when the navy special operation forces (Paskal) descended from a helicopter in a mock hostage rescue operation,
and when they got to fire the navy’s standard-issue M-4 carbines at a firing range set up on the hangar.
“The ship (KD Selangor) is exceptional and will serve as a benchmark for other navy vessels to follow,” said Eastern Fleet commander Datuk Syed Zahiruddin Putra Syed Osman.
“In addition to KD Selangor, KD Kedah, KD Perak, and KD Kelantan will arrive by March, while KD Terengganu and KD Pahang will arrive in late 2018 or early 2019.
“All in all, we will have six ships from the same class to bolster the fleet and patrol east Malaysia’s waters by next year,” he said.
Syed Zahiruddin said the training exercise was the first of many more to come in 2018.
“Even though we are at peace, the preparedness of the navy to respond to any threat or situation must always be maintained. Exercises of this scale are the best way for us to evaluate a fleet’s overall effectiveness.
“By mid-year, we hope to increase the scale of this exercise by involving all of the available assets under my command, including our submarines, so that we may demonstrate the full strength of the Eastern Fleet.”
Syed Zahiruddin also touched on the topic of Trilateral Maritime Patrols (TMP), which involves joint naval patrols by Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Phillipines, saying that there had been no issues so far.
“Preliminary plans have been made so that an officer exchange could occur between the three naval forces.
“By exchanging our officers temporarily, we are able to gain an understanding of how they work, and they, in turn, can understand how we work,” he said.
Asked about his impression on the Eastern Fleet’s performance throughout the exercise, he said they had what it took to keep east Malaysia safe.
“Overall, I am very satisfied with the preparedness of the Eastern Fleet displayed during the training operation today. I am confident that it is fully capable of protecting Sabah and Sarawak’s waters from any threat,” he said.