The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) third Keris-class littoral mission ship (LMS) KD Badik (113), arrived at the Kota Kinabalu naval base in Telek Sepanggar in the capital city of Sabah today. KD Badik is the third ship of Keris-class littoral mission ship of the Royal Malaysian Navy. She was built at Wucang Port, Qidong, Shanghai, in China by China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Co. Ltd. Badik will put in service with the 11th LMS Squadron based in Sepanggar, Sabah. Badik was launched on 15 April 2019 in China and its Physical Hand Over (PHO) ceremony was held at the Wuchang Shipyard in Qidong, China on 14 September 2021.
The Keris-class are a class of large patrol vessels (Littoral Mission Ship) of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) with a length of 69 metres (226 ft 5 in) and displacing 700 tons. A total of 18 ships are planned. As of 2018, four ships have been funded by the Malaysian government. The ships will be built by Malaysia and China companies under the joint development agreement. Malaysia and China agreed to jointly develop a Littoral Mission Ship and, two ships will be built in China by China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Co. Ltd, the rest will be built in Malaysia by local company Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation (BHIC).
The Keris-class are enlarged and improved version of Durjoy-class large patrol craft of the Bangladesh Navy but armed with only guns as per requirement of the Royal Malaysian Navy. The ships able to carry up three standard ISO containers. The ships will support missions including anti-surface warfare, mine warfare, hydrography and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) duties. It said LMS Badik will joined the 11 LMS Squadron based at RMN base in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The squadron currently has two ships, KD Keris and KD Sundang, which are already operational.
