Malaysia’s War-Configure Black Shark Torpedo Launch Marks Defiant Strategic Signal in Contested South China Sea

(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — In a calculated display of undersea lethality, the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) successfully fired an Italian-designed Black Shark heavyweight torpedo from its Scorpène-class submarine KD Tun Abdul Razak during the recently-held Exercise Taming Sari 23/25 in the contested-South China Sea.

The live-firing, conducted on July 29, 2025, within Malaysia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), represented a watershed moment for the nation’s naval modernization agenda and a vivid reminder of Kuala Lumpur’s evolving maritime deterrence posture.

The torpedo launch was carried out in full combat configuration, not in a simulated mode, underscoring the RMN’s determination to demonstrate operational credibility under realistic warfighting conditions.

Simultaneously, surface-launched Exocet MM40 Block II and SM39 missiles were fired from RMN frigates KD Jebat and KD Lekiu, delivering a combined-arms strike profile that integrated undersea and surface assets against hypothetical hostile targets.

Far more than a routine readiness drill, the synchronized firing sequence represented a deliberate orchestration of layered maritime strike power designed to showcase Malaysia’s ability to deliver precision effects from multiple domains.

At a time when the South China Sea has become the epicenter of maritime rivalry involving China, ASEAN claimant states, and external powers such as the United States, Japan, and Australia, the exercise carried unmistakable symbolic weight.

It signaled not only Malaysia’s technical proficiency but also its political will to defend offshore energy lifelines, maritime sovereignty, and the integrity of its EEZ against encroachment.

The Black Shark’s live launch also marked the culmination of years of submarine force integration, training, and maintenance, particularly following the RMN’s multi-hundred-million-dollar refit program to sustain its Scorpène-class fleet well into the 2030s.

At its core, this demonstration highlighted Malaysia’s growing reliance on undersea warfare assets to counterbalance Chinese assertiveness, deter gray-zone tactics, and preserve freedom of maneuver in contested waters.

For regional observers, the firing sent a dual message: Malaysia intends to maintain credible deterrence while avoiding overt escalation, striking a balance between defensive capability and strategic ambiguity.

The RMN’s ability to integrate submarine warfare with surface strike capability reflects a doctrinal maturation, moving from platform-centric operations toward a more networked and joint targeting approach.

This represents a qualitative leap for Malaysia’s maritime forces, which historically operated with limited undersea warfare capacity prior to the commissioning of the Scorpènes in 2009.

The symbolism of firing a live torpedo in a region where foreign vessels frequently shadow Malaysian oil and gas activities could not be lost on Beijing, nor on ASEAN partners who face similar maritime coercion.

The Black Shark torpedo itself is a weapon designed to shape adversary behavior: its speed, range, and precision mean that even the mere knowledge of its deployment can compel larger navies to adopt defensive formations and expend resources on anti-submarine warfare.

For Malaysia, the psychological and strategic effect of demonstrating that capability is as important as the technical validation of the weapon system itself.

The exercise also had a secondary audience: the Malaysian public and policymakers, who have long debated the cost and utility of the submarine program.

By executing a combat-configured torpedo launch, the RMN showcased tangible returns on investment, proving that Malaysia’s undersea fleet is more than a symbolic acquisition.

In the wider Indo-Pacific context, the firing contributed to the narrative of middle powers asserting agency in contested waters, reinforcing the idea that deterrence does not solely rest on the shoulders of superpowers.

It demonstrated that smaller navies, when properly equipped and doctrinally innovative, can carve out space for strategic autonomy even in the shadow of great-power competition.

The timing of the exercise was also notable, coming as the United States and its allies intensify freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) and joint drills in the South China Sea, and as China expands the deployment of its carrier strike groups in the region.

Malaysia’s demonstration therefore slots into a larger regional pattern where maritime forces are signaling resolve through visible, high-profile shows of capability.

For Beijing, the drill was a reminder that even traditionally quiet actors like Malaysia are willing to operationalize deterrence when national sovereignty and energy security are at stake.

For Washington, it reinforced the value of capacity-building among ASEAN partners, strengthening the collective deterrence web that underpins U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy.

And for ASEAN claimant states such as Vietnam and the Philippines, it offered a case study in leveraging undersea warfare assets to level the playing field against numerically superior Chinese forces.

South China Sea: A Region on the Edge

The South China Sea remains one of the most strategically volatile maritime regions in the world.

China continues to enforce sweeping claims through its “nine-dash line,” asserting sovereignty over nearly 90% of the sea despite the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling that dismissed its claims.

Beijing has ignored the ruling and expanded its military footprint, fortifying reclaimed features in the Spratly Islands with runways, anti-ship missile batteries, electronic warfare systems, and advanced radar networks.

Malaysia, like the Philippines and Vietnam, has found itself under constant pressure from Chinese coast guard, maritime militia, and survey vessels operating near its EEZ.

Incidents around the Luconia Shoals and James Shoal—both vital to Malaysia’s hydrocarbon exploration—have heightened Kuala Lumpur’s awareness of creeping encroachment.

Chinese vessels have routinely shadowed Petronas-contracted rigs, deployed maritime survey ships without consent, and harassed local enforcement units operating in the area.

Although Malaysia has long practiced a policy of quiet hedging—maintaining diplomatic ties with Beijing while enhancing defense cooperation with the United States, Australia, and other partners—its tolerance for maritime coercion has steadily declined.

The live-firing of the Black Shark torpedo therefore represents not only a show of force but also a strategic warning that Malaysia intends to defend its EEZ with credible undersea deterrence.

Anatomy of Exercise Taming Sari 23/25

Exercise Taming Sari 23/25 unfolded between July 8 and July 31, 2025, with participating units operating from the Lumut Naval Base on the west coast and Sepanggar Naval Base in Sabah, East Malaysia.

The centerpiece was the KD Tun Abdul Razak’s firing of the Black Shark—a wire-guided, fiber-optic heavyweight torpedo developed by Leonardo of Italy, originally designed for advanced submarine fleets such as those of Italy and Chile.

The Black Shark boasts a maximum speed exceeding 50 knots, a range of more than 50 kilometers, and an advanced acoustic homing head designed to defeat both submarine and surface ship targets.

Its fiber-optic guidance link enables real-time target updates, maneuvering flexibility, and superior resistance to electronic countermeasures.

The weapon’s modular design allows it to engage both deep-diving submarines and high-speed surface combatants, providing the RMN with an adaptable tool for layered anti-access warfare.

While Malaysia previously tested the Black Shark in 2014 during Exercise Barracuda, the 2025 firing marked the first time it was executed in full combat configuration, validating the torpedo’s operational integration with the Scorpène platform.

Complementing the undersea strike, RMN frigates KD Lekiu and KD Jebat executed simultaneous launches of Exocet MM40 Block II and SM39 submarine-launched variants, simulating saturation attacks on maritime targets.

This combination of torpedo and missile strikes underscored Malaysia’s capacity to coordinate multi-domain maritime operations, integrating submarine stealth with surface ship firepower.

The exercise also validated the submarine fleet’s readiness following a USD 240 million (approximately RM 1.13 billion) refit and life-extension contract, ensuring that Malaysia’s undersea assets remain combat-ready well into the 2030s.

The Defence Minister hailed the event as “historic,” noting that it marked a decisive step forward in the RMN’s readiness to counter escalating threats in the South China Sea.

The Strategic Value of Submarines

For Malaysia, the Black Shark firing was more than a technical milestone; it was a signal of sovereign resolve.

By demonstrating the ability to launch live weapons in its EEZ, Kuala Lumpur reaffirmed its commitment to defend offshore economic resources—including vital oil and gas fields that form the backbone of national revenue.

The Black Shark expands Malaysia’s asymmetric warfare toolkit, allowing stealthy Scorpène submarines to harass, disable, or deter numerically superior fleets without exposing surface ships to direct confrontation.

In strategic terms, submarines provide a unique form of “strategic insurance,” offering deterrence, covert intelligence collection, and the ability to threaten adversary warships or supply lines.

Against the backdrop of China’s rapidly expanding People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)—which now fields over 70 submarines, including nuclear-powered attack boats—Malaysia’s undersea capability remains modest but symbolically powerful.

The RMN’s two Scorpène boats, KD Tunku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Abdul Razak, are not force-symmetric answers to China’s navy, but they serve as potent deterrents within Malaysia’s EEZ and immediate region.

By showcasing the Black Shark’s combat readiness, Malaysia signaled that it can impose costs on intruders and complicate Beijing’s calculus in any potential confrontation.

Regional Geostrategic Implications

The torpedo firing reverberated across Southeast Asia, drawing attention from claimant states and external powers alike.

For China, Malaysia’s exercise served as a quiet but unmistakable rebuttal to Beijing’s “gray-zone” tactics, which include deploying coast guard vessels, militia fleets, and naval escorts near Malaysian exploration projects.

Although Beijing refrained from issuing an official protest, analysts noted that the drill coincided with PLAN maneuvers simulating blockade operations near the Bashi Channel and Malacca Strait, suggesting a potential action-reaction spiral.

China may respond by intensifying patrols near James Shoal or dispatching additional survey ships to pressure Malaysia, raising the risk of escalation by accident or miscalculation.

For ASEAN, Malaysia’s torpedo launch demonstrated the practical utility of building credible deterrent capabilities rather than relying solely on diplomatic protests.

It is likely to encourage the Philippines, Vietnam, and potentially Indonesia to accelerate their own undersea warfare and precision-strike programs.

Vietnam already operates Russian Kilo-class submarines equipped with Klub-S cruise missiles, while the Philippines has expressed interest in acquiring its first submarine fleet by 2030.

Malaysia’s assertiveness could therefore catalyze a collective hedging strategy within ASEAN, where smaller states gradually upgrade their military capacity while avoiding overt alignment with either Washington or Beijing.

At the same time, the exercise fed into broader U.S.-led deterrence frameworks in the Indo-Pacific.

By integrating live-firing demonstrations with joint training such as Exercise Sama Sama, Malaysia strengthens interoperability with U.S. and allied forces, contributing to a distributed network of deterrence across maritime Southeast Asia.

For Indonesia, which has faced repeated Chinese incursions into the Natuna Sea, the drill underlined the urgency of regional coordination, potentially accelerating Jakarta’s plans for joint patrols with ASEAN partners.

The timing is particularly significant as Indonesia expands its defense budget under President Prabowo to fund new submarines, frigates, and maritime domain awareness systems.

Military-Technical Context

The Black Shark torpedo belongs to a class of weapons that can alter the balance of power in contested waters.

Its speed of over 50 knots enables it to outrun many countermeasure decoys, while its 300 kg high-explosive warhead is capable of crippling destroyer-sized vessels with a single strike.

The fiber-optic guidance allows operators aboard the submarine to update targeting data mid-flight, reducing the effectiveness of evasive maneuvers by adversary ships.

Combined with the stealth profile of the Scorpène—whose noise levels are reduced through raft-mounted machinery and advanced acoustic quieting—the weapon ensures a lethal ambush capability.

This places intruding warships under constant threat of unseen torpedo attacks, forcing them to divert resources to anti-submarine warfare (ASW) measures.

The PLAN has invested heavily in ASW destroyers, Y-8Q patrol aircraft, and seabed sensors to counter regional submarine threats, yet the vastness of the South China Sea makes complete coverage impossible.

Thus, even a small fleet of submarines armed with modern heavyweight torpedoes can impose strategic dilemmas on larger navies.

Malaysia’s Black Shark firing therefore represents a reminder that in the undersea domain, quality often outweighs quantity.

Broader Strategic and Economic Relevance

The South China Sea accounts for nearly 40% of global maritime trade, with energy and goods worth trillions transiting its waters annually.

For Malaysia, the stakes are especially high, as offshore hydrocarbon projects contribute billions of dollars in revenue and underpin national energy security.

Any disruption caused by foreign encroachment threatens not only national sovereignty but also economic stability.

By visibly demonstrating its undersea strike capability, Malaysia reassures international investors that it is prepared to defend offshore energy operations.

It also enhances the credibility of the RMN’s modernization program, which includes Littoral Mission Ships, Korean K-SAAM missiles, and the planned LMS Batch 2 corvettes designed to strengthen layered maritime defense.

The exercise therefore fits into a wider narrative: Malaysia is modernizing to defend not just territorial claims but also the economic arteries that sustain its development.

Conclusion

Malaysia’s live-firing of the Black Shark torpedo was a defining moment in its maritime security strategy.

It validated the operational readiness of the RMN’s Scorpène fleet, underscored the value of undersea deterrence, and sent a powerful message of resolve to both friends and adversaries.

The exercise demonstrated that even in the shadow of China’s naval dominance, smaller states can employ asymmetric capabilities to safeguard sovereignty and economic lifelines.

Regionally, the event may catalyze greater ASEAN investment in undersea warfare and integrated strike capabilities, even as it risks escalating tension with Beijing.

Globally, it highlighted the Indo-Pacific’s transition into a multipolar maritime contest where submarines, missiles, and torpedoes increasingly define the balance of power.

As negotiations on an ASEAN-China Code of Conduct remain stalled, Malaysia’s decision to fire a live torpedo serves as a reminder that in contested waters, military capability speaks as loudly as diplomacy.

— DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA