KD Maharaja Lela

KD Maharaja Lela is the lead ship of Maharaja Lela-class frigate built locally by Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation (BHIC), and later Lumut Naval Shipyard, based on enlarged version of Naval Group's Gowind-class design.^[2] She is named after Maharaja Lela, in honour of the Perak chieftain and British colonialism resistance leader, Dato Maharaja Lela.

The Egyptian Navy corvette ENS El Fateh to which the KD Maharaja Lela would be a heavier version of it.
History
Malaysia
Name	KD Maharaja Lela
Namesake	Dato Maharaja Lela
Builder	Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation / Lumut Naval Shipyard (Primary shipbuilder) Naval Group (Design authority)
Laid down	8 March 2016
Launched	24 August 2017
Identification	Hull number: 2501
Status	Sea trials
General characteristics
Class & type	Maharaja Lela-class frigate
Displacement	3,100 long tons (3,150 t) full load
Length	111 m (364 ft 2 in)
Beam	16 m (52 ft 6 in)
Draught	3.85 m (12 ft 8 in)
Propulsion	CODAD 4 x MTU 20V 1163 M94, each rated at 7,400 kW (9,925 shp), total output: 29,600 kW (39,694 shp)
Speed	28 knots (52 km/h)
Range	5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement	138
Sensors & processing systems	Combat system: Naval Group SETIS Search radar: Thales SMART-S Mk2 Fire control radar: Rheinmetall TMEO Mk2 electro-optical tracking system & TMX/EO Mk2 Sonar: Thales TUS ASW suite: Kingklip Mk.1 hull-mounted sonar & CAPTAS-2 towed array sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys	RESM: Thales Vigile DLS: Wallop Super Barricade decoy launching system
Armament	Guns: 1 × Bofors 57 mm gun 2 × MSI DS30M 30 mm cannon Anti-air: 16 × VL MICA in Sylver VLS (planned) Anti-ship: 8 × Naval Strike Missile Anti-submarine: 2 × triple J+S torpedo launcher
Aircraft carried	Various types of UAVs and helicopters, weighing up to 10 tons
Aviation facilities	Stern hangar and helicopter landing platform
Notes	[1]

Construction

Under a contract valued of RM9 billion, BHIC was contracted to build a total of six class of this ship for RMN. Each of the ships are equipped with warfare capabilities for electronic, air, surface and underwater threats, integrated with state-of-the-art systems.

The ship's construction was started on 3 December 2014 with the first steel cut at the IHC Metalix facility in Kinderdijk, Netherlands. The materials were then shipped to Malaysia.^[3] Another steel cutting ceremony took place on 12 June 2015 at the then-BHIC Shipyard in Lumut, Perak.^[4] The ship was laid down on 8 March 2016.^[5][6]

The frigate was officially named as KD Maharaja Lela and was launched on 24 August 2017 by Queen of Perak, Tuanku Zara Salim, witnessed by Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah at the BHIC Shipyard in Lumut, Perak.^[7]