FS 1500

FS 1500 class
Colombian frigate ARC Almirante Padilla
Overview
Type	frigate
units	4 Colombia 2 Malaysia
Shipyard	HDW
Technical specifications
displacement	2100  tons loaded
length	99.1 m (approx. 330 ft)
width	11.3 m (approx. 40 ft)
Draft	3.7 m (approx. 10 ft)
crew	92
drive	2 shafts, 4 MTU 20V 1163 TB92 Diesel 23,400 HP (approx. 17,200 kW)
speed	27  kn (50  km / h )
Range	7,000  nm (12,964  km ) at 14  kn (26  km / h )
helicopter	1 × hangar

The class FS 1500 is a frigate class or corvette class of the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW), which was built as the Almirante Padilla class with four units for Colombia and as the Kasturi class with two units for Malaysia .

history

The ship class was developed and offered at HDW in the early 1980s. As a result, six ships were built, four for Colombia and two for Malaysia. The ships for the two countries differ only in their armament and electronic equipment. HDW itself defines the ships as corvettes , while the respective navies classify them as frigates .

The first ship, the Almirante Padilla for Colombia, was laid down on March 17, 1981 and put into service on October 14, 1983. The last two ships, the KD Lekir and the KD Kasturi , were built in parallel and laid down on January 3, 1982 and put into service by the Malaysian Navy on August 15, 1984 .

The ships have been improved over the years and are still in service today (as of 2010).

The ships were the last naval ship class of the HDW before the development of the MEKO concept.

equipment

country	Malaysia	Colombia
Armament	1 × Creusot-Loire Compact 100 mm / 55 DP gun 1 × Bofors 57 mm / 70 DP gun 2 x 30 mm Emerlec Mk.74 aircraft gun in double gun 2 × 4 MBDA Exocet MM40 block 2 1 × Bofors 375 mm water bomb thrower MANPAD air missile	1 × Oto Melara 76/62 Compact 2 × Breda 40 mm / 70 in double gun 2 × 324 mm Mk 32 triple torpedo tubes 2 × 4 MBDA Exocet MM40 block 2 2 × Simbad anti-aircraft missile 2 × Naval ECM System SCIMITAR
electronics	Thales Group DA-08 Air / Sea Search Radar Signaal WM22 Fire Control Radar Decca TM 1226C Navigation Radar (I Band) Atlas Elektronik DSQS-21C Sonar Signaal Sewaco-MA with Link Y Mk 2 fire control system	Thomson-CSF Sea Tiger Atlas Elektronik ASO 4-2 Thomson-CSF Castor II B Fire Control Radar Thomson-CSF TAVITAC Fire Control System Atlas Elektronik ASO 4-2 Sonar
Status at delivery

units

country	Ship number	Surname	Keel laying	Launch	In service
Colombia	FM-51	Almirante Padilla	March 17, 1981	January 6, 1982	October 31, 1983
Colombia	FM-52	Caldas	June 14, 1981	April 23, 1982	February 14, 1984
Colombia	FM-53	Antioquia	June 22, 1981	August 28, 1982	April 30, 1984
Colombia	FM-54	Independiente	June 22, 1981	January 21, 1983	July 24, 1984
Malaysia	F25	KD Kasturi	January 3, 1982	May 14, 1983	August 15, 1984
Malaysia	F26	KD Lekir	January 3, 1982	May 14, 1983	August 15, 1984

photos

• 

  Caldas (2006)

• 

  Almirante Padilla , exercise PANAMAX 2004

• 

  Almirante Padilla Exercise UNITAS Gold (2009)

• 

  KD Lekir from the front ...

• 

  ... and from the aft (far left) (both 2008)

swell

• Colombia: Seguridad & Defensa www.fuerzasmilitares.org (Spanish)
• Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995 ISBN 0-85177-605-1

Web links

• Boustead Naval Shipyard Awarded SLEP Contract (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Technology for the future. (PDF; 1.4 MB) HDW AG, p. 24 , accessed on July 23, 2010 . 
2. ↑ Richard Sharpe: Jane's Fighting Ships . Ed .: Jane's Information Group . No. 101 , 1998, pp. 148; 431 .