SHAH ALAM: Fourth LCS Keel Laying Ceremony. The keel laying ceremony for the fourth LCS is tentatively scheduled for October 31. And if the naming convention is followed, the fourth ship will be named Mat Salleh, in honour of the Sabah warlord who led a rebellion against the British in 1895.
The ceremony will be held at Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) facility in Lumut, Perak where all the LCS is being built. As you aware BNS had been contracted to build six LCS for the RMN with the first ship it is contractually bound to deliver by 2019.
The keel of the LCS 3 with the Maharaja Lela in the back at the ceremony in December, last year
For the record the first LCS is Maharaja Lela, second Raja Mahadi, third Sharif Masahor, fourth Mat Salleh, fifth Tok Janggut and sixth Mat Kilau. As reported previously the RMN and BNS swapped the names of the second and third LCS so the fourth ship could still be named after the three other warriors mentioned. I will confirmed the name on day itself of course.
The keel of LCS 3 (left)and LCS 2 (right) in the ship building hangar at BNS last December.
As for the progress of the the first three LCS, nothing official has come out from both RMN and BNS. Pictures from official visits last week however showed Maharaja Lela still undergoing work. Hopefully we will get the latest at the keel laying ceremony.
Much work is still being done on Maharaja Lela as pictured last week by the RMN LCS project team.
Anyhow, the RMN has published the CGI of its future museum in its official You Tube channel.
The museum to be located at Lumut was designed by award winning architect firm, Arkitek Kamal Alwi based in Jalan Ampang. The firm has also published still images of the design on its website.
Another CGI of the future RMN museum. Arkitek Kamal Alwi.
I have no idea whether funds for the museum has been allocated so far or its cost. But it is likely the RMN has approved of the design.
A CGI of the future RMN museum. Arkitek Kamal Alwi.
From the video and previous stories on Malaysian Defence we know that the KD Hang Tuah will be the highlight of the museum. It will be a static working ship, however.
— Malaysian Defence
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I was hoping that they would close the TLDM Museum in Melaka and move KD Sri Terengganu to Lumut. They should also have a lot of open spaces, but i don’t see that in the CGIs.
My previous thoughts on this
https://www.malaysiandefence.com/another-look-rmn-15-to-5/
https://www.malaysiandefence.com/another-look-rmn-15-to-5/#comment-320773
@ marhalim
If you are going probably you can help to check how far along ex-KD Rahmat scrapping has been done?
Thanks.
Its good to heard that our LCS project is good in progress.
In perfect world companies like DCNS [and others who have received major contracts from us] would provide funding [like how British Aerospace/BAE Systems did with the RMAF Museum] for the upkeep of the new RMN museum. Terengganu should also be placed under a rain/sun shelter rather than being placed in the open. Whilst it would be nice to see Tuah as a permanent exhibit; an FAC [after retirement] should also be preserved.
Unlike Tuah or Rahmat; the FACs; like the Vospers, were the backbone of the RMN; carrying out numerous routine patrols [spending more time at sea compared to their larger sisters] and used for roles they were never originally intended for. Retired stuff which will look great as exhibits include the 375mms, the 100mm Creusot Loires and the MM-36 launchers. As of a few years ago on the locally built riverine craft used at RASCOM was still maintained. I wonder if that’s been scrapped.
Err…..what the status of Maharajalela? Is she fully operational and fully armed?
A bit worried…this ship is a stretched design so keep building her without a full report of her performance at sea is bad news right?
Reply
She has not even put into water yet
That building manages to be extravagant and lack architectural merit at the same time.
As a museum it fails by apparently having miles of cramped, uninviting labyrinths hosting walls of text that nobody will take the time to read. And more touch screens than anybody can fill.
For all that, it will cost a bomb to build (to the joy of those chosen to) and upkeep.
“It will be a static working ship”
May I know what this means? Is it like a floating museum ala HMAS Vampire?
Reply
Yes the plan is to be like HMS Belfast with navy reservists doing the upkeep as they do their service
romeo – ”A bit worried…”
”Stretched” or not the design’s a mature one [DCNS would not have marketed the design if it were not] and it’s not like she has revolutionary aspects in her design that make her very different compared to other designs. Also, it’s not as if the RMN will be the first to operate the design. Once in water and ready to sail; she will undergo builders trials and will be the responsibility of BNS during this period. The purpose of of builders trials [with RMN people aboard] is not only to certify that the yard has met its contractual obligations but also to identify and rectify any teething issues or defects discovered and to ensure that follow on ships will not encounter the same problems.
Only after this is done will she be handed over to the RMN [the RMN can refuse acceptance is if feels that there are unresolved issues/defects] and even after delivery, there will be a period of warranty. DCNS has its reputation to keep and BNS will want to be fully paid. No doubt there are various things that can and will go wrong [whether minor or otherwise] and we can only hope that BNS [working with DCNS] can rectify any issues/defects discovered and that the RMN will not prematurely accept into service any of the LCS’s until everything has been sorted out.
Azlan:
” Stretched” or not the design’s a mature one….”
Mature? How mature is that? Gowind 2500 only produced 2 units for egyptian navy. RMN is not the original design, additional length will effect on the whole ship perdormance. DCNS reputation is the only hope not to boustead. Nobody wants NGPV case repeat again right?
” RMN will not prematurely accept into service any of the LCS’s until everything has been sorted out.”
Learned from NGPV case, RMN must accept the ship at the end of the day.
Reply
NGPV mess happened as the owner had fled the country after the money paid for the project including the ships had been siphoned off to pay for other things. BNS will be there as it is a subsidiary of a public listed company which in turned majority owned by the Armed Forces pensions fund. If there is any problems they will take care of it, no one will run away.
romeo – ”Mature? How mature is that? Gowind 2500 only produced 2 units for egyptian navy.”
It is a design that has been around for some years and has already been ordered and put in the water. DCNS has been in the business for decades; do you really think it would offer a design that’s ”immature” or one that has key aspects in it’s design that still contain defects? Note that I’m referring to the hull design; not the systems.
romeo – ”additional length will effect on the whole ship perdormance.”
Right and you figure all the designers and engineers employed by DCNS would not have taken into account that the ship is stretched? Also, you figure the RMN [never mind BNS] would approve a design that contains key issues on account of it being stretched? It’s not as if we’re building a 5000 tonne on an design originally displacing 1,500. Not as if we’ve incorporated key design changes to the hull that in turn would require major redesign or re-engineering.
romeo – ”Learned from NGPV case,”
Don’t make fast conclusions before taking into account all the factors. The RMN had no choice but to accept the ships and the Kedahs, even though entering service not fully fitted out, did not come with any major defects that affected the hull or is seakeeping. Sure, there were various technical issues but such issues are encountered almost everywhere.
As it stands there is zero indication to speculate that the LCS’s hull has issues on account of being stretched. If you want to worry by all means go ahead. For me I’ll worry about integration issues and whether the class delivers on spec. I’ll also worry about whether in the coming decades the LCS will be what’s needed to confront any threats we may face.