THE construction of the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) is expected to begin three months after the sixth supplemental agreement is signed, Admiral Datuk Abdul Rahman Ayob said.
According to the Navy chief, the contract, which is being prepared by the Defence Ministry, would undergo several modifications in terms of time frame and cost.
“As we are aware, the Cabinet meeting held on April 19 had agreed to continue the LCS project. This is an important decision to proceed further,” he told a press conference after officiating at the Royal Malaysian Navy ceremonial parade at Lumut Navy base today (April 27).
“If the contract agreement is finalised, we hope that the LCS project will be able to commence as early as possible.”
Previously, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan was reported as saying that the LCS project will continue and that the first ship will be operational in 2026.
In Aug 2022, the LCS controversy came to a head after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) reported that none of the ships had been constructed despite the government having paid Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd RM6.083bil.
In the meantime, Abdul Rahman stated that the supplemental agreement will be concluded and signed at the Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2023 (LIMA 2023) in Langkawi, which will be held from May 23 to 27.
He stated that the focus for the littoral mission ship (LMS) project is now asset acquisition to replace outdated Navy vessels.
“At the moment, the main focus is procurement of LMS Batch 2 as approved in Budget 2023. The assets received from the first batch did not meet the standards, we expect the second batch to have better combat capabilities and we hope the procurement process will be finalised soon,” he said. – April 27, 2023
Main pic credit: Facebook/ Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia
