 Frigate Naresuan (FFG 421)
|
| History |
|---|
 Thailand |
|---|
| Name | HTMS Naresuan |
| Namesake | King Naresuan |
| Builder | China State Shipbuilding Corporation, Shanghai |
| Laid down | 1991 |
| Launched | July 1993 |
| Commissioned | 15 December 1994 |
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics |
|---|
| Class and type | Naresuan-class frigate |
| Displacement | 2,985 tons full load |
| Length | 120.5 m (395 ft 4 in) |
| Beam | 13.7 m (44 ft 11 in) |
| Draught | 6 m (19 ft 8 in) |
| Propulsion | 1 × General Electric LM2500+ gas turbine and 2 × MTU 20V1163 TB83 diesel engines, driving two shafts with controllable pitch propellers in CODOG configuration |
| Speed | 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) max |
| Range | 4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
| Complement | 150 |
Sensors and
processing systems |
- Saab Sea Giraffe AMD 3D surveillance radar
- Thales LW08 long range search radar
- Raytheon AN/SPS-64 Navigation radar
- Selex IFF SIT422CI&M425
- Saab 9LV Mk4 combat management system with Saab TIDLS and Saab Tacticall integrated communications system
- 2 × Saab Ceros 200 fire control radar
- 1 x Saab EOS 500 electro-optical fire control director
- Kelvin Hughes SharpEye™ radar
- Atlas DSQS-24d sonar
|
Electronic warfare
& decoys |
- ESM ITT ES-3601 (AN/SLQ-4)
- ECM Type 984-1 noise jammer&Type 981-3 deception jammer
- Decoys Terma SKWS (C-Guard)
|
| Armament | |
| Aircraft carried | 1 x Super Lynx 300 |
HTMS Naresuan (FFG-421) (Thai: เรือหลวงนเรศวร), commissioned in 1995, is a modified version of the Chinese-made Type 053 frigate, corporate designed between Royal Thai Navy and China but built by the China State Shipbuilding Corporation in Shanghai. Her sister ship, HTMS Taksin was delivered in November 1995. The ships came at 2 billion baht each, less than the 8 billion baht claimed price tag for Western-built frigates.
The Royal Thai Navy complained of the poor quality of the ships. The ship's damage control system was very limited, with very basic fire suppression systems. It was claimed that if the ship's hull was breached, the ship would be quickly lost to flooding. The Thai Navy had to spend considerable time and effort to correct some of these issues.[1]
Upgrade
On 3 June 2011, Saab announced[2] that it was awarded a contract for the upgrading of the two Naresuan-class frigates. The scope of the upgrade included Saab's 9LV MK4 combat management system, Sea Giraffe AMB, CEROS 200 fire control radar, EOS 500 electro-optics system and data link systems for communications with the newly acquired Royal Thai Air Force Erieye surveillance aircraft.
On 8 August 2012, DSCA announced[3] Thailand's intention to acquire the Evolved Sea Sparrow (ESSM) missile and associated equipment to upgrade the frigates and a Letter of Offer and Acceptance was signed[4] with Raytheon on 14 January 2013.
Service history
On 30 August 2015, the ESSM was fired from Naresuan during Exercise CARAT 2015.[5]
During a network centric exercise of the Royal Thai Navy in March 2021 networked data links was established between Gripen fighters and Naresuan, HTMS Taksin and HTMS Chakri Naruebet for the first time.[6]
On 23 May 2022, Naresuan, Bangpakong, a Type 053HT frigate, and Kraburi, a sister ship to Bangpakong, participated in the 28th Annual CARAT exercise with the US Navy's 7th Fleet.[7]
