Agence France-Presse, The first of two Scorpene-class submarines sold to Malaysia was inaugurated Oct. 23 in the northern port city of Cherbourg during a visit by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Designed by the French firm DCNS and Spain’s Navantia, the Tunku Abdul Rahman will be formally delivered to the Royal Malaysian Navy in early 2009 and the second submarine will follow at the end of that year.
Malaysia signed the deal to establish its first fleet of subs in June 2002. With diesel-electric propulsion, the stealth Scorpene has a crew of 31 men capable of spending 45 days at sea.
