Source: Bernama
March 29, 2006 15:40
PM
BAE Systems To Submit Report On Failed Missile To
RMN
From Nor Baizura
Basri
LONDON, March 29 (Bernama) -- BAE Systems, a UK-based transatlantic
defence and aerospace company which manufactured the Sea Skua
guided missiles, will submit its report from investigation into the
March 16 failed test of a missile.
Its regional managing director for Asia Pacific, Steve Meighan,
said the investigation had been completed and the report would be
presented to Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) chief Admiral Datuk Ilyas
Din tomorrow.
"We took this very seriously and have investigated all aspects of
the incident. Hopefully, this will not happen again," he told
reporters at a dinner reception here.
On March 16, a Sea Skua guided missile failed in the first test
conducted in Southeast Asia, in the waters of Kuala Beruas near
Pantai Remis in Perak.
In the test conducted by BAE Dynamics, the missile was fired at
11am from a Super Lynx 300 attack helicopter at the wreckage of a
ship eight nautical miles away. It failed to hit the target and
fell into the sea without exploding.
The RMN later located the missile about 32 nautical miles north of
Kuala Beruas.
According to Meighan, all the anti-ship missiles produced by the
company have always been in top form, including those supplied to
RMN and ready for use at any time.
"We find that the problem was not
the operator or the helicopter. It was the missile. We find this
quite hard to believe as the Sea Skua missiles have been successful
elsewhere," he said.\
The 2.5-metre-long Sea Skua, weighing 145 kilograms, is an
all-weather, day-and-night sea skimming anti-ship missile equipped
with a semi-active radar homing head that can sink a ship from a
distance of 18 kilometres.
Sea Skua missiles were used in the Gulf War of 1991 and 2000, fired
from the Lynx helicopters of the British Royal Navy.
The missiles are being used by the armed forces of Brazil, Germany,
South Korea and Turkey.
The missile test was the first to be conducted in Southeast Asia
because Malaysia is the only country in the region to purchase the
missiles under a package costing about 20 million pounds.
An agreement to purchase the missiles was signed in 2001 and the
supply to RMN began last year.
Asked about the possibility of a second test, Meighan said this
would be carried out after the company was satisfied with the
system's capability and able to overcome the problems which
contributed to the failure of the first test.
However, he added, the second test is expected to be held before
the Defence Services Asia Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur in April 24
this year.
-- BERNAMA
