Author: Tharishini Krishnan

Southeast Asia is quietly entering a new strategic era, one defined not by the size of a navy’s fleet, but by the range of its missiles. Across the region, an emerging pattern is becoming visible. Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia are each moving rapidly to establish anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) postures. For some, the shift is born […]

In early May this year, the Malaysian government considered replacing the Tun Sharifah Rodziah static offshore forward operating base with a Mobile Offshore Base (MOB). This shift in thinking is not merely a logistical upgrade but a timely and strategic recalibration of the country’s maritime security architecture. Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said […]

This article is part of Conceptualization of “Maritime Security” in Southeast Asia, a series of analyses produced by experts convened by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. “Maritime security” in Malaysia’s national language Malaysia’s national language is Bahasa Malaysia. The word “maritime security” normally used in Bahasa Malaysia is “keselamatan maritim.” Maritim directly translates […]

Over the last two decades, Malaysia has made concerted efforts toward modernizing its navy. The 15 to 5 Transformation Programme has been the basis of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN)’s recent restructuring agenda. This program focuses on acquiring new ships to replace aging ones, reducing cost and logistics problems, and building an efficient fleet, in […]

The South China Sea is an important maritime area for Malaysia. Besides being connected to the world’s major east-west trade routes, Malaysia is one of the claimant states of the Spratly Islands. The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN), however, is facing a growing mismatch between its naval capabilities and its interests in addressing maritime challenges in […]