- SHAH ALAM: KD Hang Tuah, the grand dame of the Royal Malaysian Navy will be paid-off once the two DSME-designed training ships are commissioned into the fleet.
Hang Tuah will be preserved as a floating museum though the location has not been decided.
The first training ship, Gagah Samudera is expected to be commissioned by November while the second, Teguh Samudera is expected to receive its pennant, next year.
RMN chief Admiral Ahmad Kamarulzaman Badaruddin said the four Laksamana-class corvettes will be decommissioned – most likely one at a time – when the first four units of the Littoral Mission Ships (LMS) are commissioned, also one at a time.
He did not specify the timeline for the decommissioning or the commissioning, however.
Asked why Hang Tuah and Laksamana-class were to be retired ahead of the much-older Sandakan-based patrol craft – KD Seri Perlis and KD Seri Johor, Kamarulzaman said the five ships were chosen based on the number of days they spend at sea and the cost to maintain them.
“Based on those criterias, Hang Tuah will be the first to go and the Laksamanas the next. After that it will be the MCMVs turn,” he says in an interview after presenting the keynote address at the Maritime Warfare Asia 2016 on Wednesday.
Kamarulzaman also said that an announcement on the RMN 15-to-5 plan will be made during the presentation of the 2017 Budget, scheduled to be delivered by the Finance Minister by the end of this month.
Pressed on what will be announced, Kamarulzaman declined to comment further saying that “you will have to wait for the budget presentation.
Asked whether the announcement will be about RMN ordering China-made warships – corvettes or the LMS – Kamarulzaman declined to be specific although he said that the service had no objections in getting them as long it fit “RMN requirements and missions.”
On the LMS, Kamarulzaman confirmed that the plan was to buy 18 of these vessels. RMN, according to him, is speaking with shipyards to get their proposals for the class. He said the LMS will replaced various vessels in the navy including the MCMVs.
As for future mine hunting, Kamarulzaman said that they might used containerised mission modules for the capabiliy. He did not specify the numbers of modules to be procured or the capability to be acquired.
Kamarulzaman declined to outline the exact specifications of LMS apart from that it will be “70ish (metre) long”. It will be fitted for UAVs and probably USVs.
“We want to move away from laying specifications as in the past. When we do that – when my planning officers go to exhibitions and similar events – they will come back with a lot of data and we end up with a gold plated ship.
For the LMS our priority are the mission capabilities, that is why we called them (littoral) mission ships. It will not be our main surface combatants, that is the job of the LCS, the LMS will be used for border security, patrol and similar operations.
For border patrol or preventing illegal fishing, we do not need for example, jamming capabilities. However we might opt for “Fitted for but Not Equipped With” concept so we can reduce the purchase price.”
Asked on whether missiles and guns will be fitted on the LMS, Kamarulzaman said it will be based the proposals by the shipyards.
He also declined to specify the cost of the LMS as envisioned by the navy apart from saying it will be 80 per cent cheaper than the LCS. Industry sources however told Malaysian Defence that the cost has been capped to RM200 million per ship inclusive of all the weapons.
One source says only China will be able to sell such a vessel at that price.
Meanwhile, Kamarulzaman said they want six newly built helicopters instead of just upgrading the six Super Lynxes already in service. For more on the ASW helicopters go here.
“The cost of upgrading the Super Lynxes is as much as buying new ones, so might as well we buy new ones. We have learn our lessons from the Kasturi upgrade. We end up paying two-thirds of the cost of buying a new ship,” he added.
As for the LCS, he said as off, Oct 1, the progress is up to 28 percent. It was expected that the ship will be launched by March or April, next year and Kamarulzaman said they were still targeting 2019 for its commissioning.
He admitted that it was cheaper and faster to built the ships in France but the RMN accepted the government’s decision to built them locally . The decision have a great impact on the local defence industry and the community.
— Malaysian Defence.
View Comments (53)
" Locally "
Based on this picture from TLDM facebook..the number of each class is specified for the 15 to 5 plan..
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12 LCS? I will always thought it was six
"He admitted that it was cheaper and faster to built the ships in France but the RMN has to accept the government’s decision to built them locally."
this sentences will cause a lot of story and controversy in future.
18 LMS??really..at that price.....this just make me excited. hope this will proceed smoothly
Prolly we need to look at different helo model as getting wildcats would not be as economical as it seems due to it's minimal part commonality with the super lynx as well as size problem
Should rmn consider getting bigger helo for ASW like AW101 or EC-725?
both has its own advantages; Ec-725 has been operated by the AF and they could use the existing training facility as well as the already established logistic support while AW-101 is undoubtedly a bigger helos and could have greater flexibility as well as range and payload it can carry.
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AW101 is over the top, as for the EC725 well you know the current issue with it.
Seahawks anyone?
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The Seahawks are plenty useful .
finally some good news!!??........TUDM not getting anything new?
The TLDM infographic of the 15-5 plan is missing the 2 samudera class training ships. Intentional? If that is included it should be 6, not 5 classes.
Btw now there is clearer picture of what the LMS is looked at by TLDM. But IMO RM200million (usd50mil) cap for each LMS is quite tight, with less than usd1bil for 18 ships. There is the MCM modules, and IMO survey (which is a complimentary capability to the MCM task) and some logistic capability to support the spratly bases that should be included too. With the tight budget it is also very difficult to get a 70m ship, which I think an ideal size for the LMS. Also IMO the LMS because of its mission should also have a sprint speed similar to the FAC and laksamanas, which is about 35knots, slower it would just be a patrol ship.
Looking at the quantity of ships in the 15-5 plan, it is substantially more than I imagined. I don't see the reason why we need 18 NGPV's, and going for 4 subs would mean one has to be named after mahathir.
My own ideal 15-5 plan
-6x SGPV
-12x NGPV (fully armed)
-3x Scorpene
-4x MRSS (2x LPD, 2x logistics and replenishment)
-26x LMS (9x hi end combatant, 12x lo end patrol, 3x lo end multipurpose logistics, 2x lo end hydrographic survey)
-2x samudera training ship
Sell off lekiu, kasturi n mpcss
Stretch target - 5x lafayette frigates as they are retired by France (early 2020's), to replace the 5 saudara (tuah jebat kasturi lekir lekiu) with 1 common type and to complement the SGPV.
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I believed the Samudera as the training ships are deliberately left out as they do not jive with the 15-to-5 plan
This is what i thought of for the MRSS. Sadly lost the drawing as my PC crashed. Based on the Makassar LPD. The philippines paid usd 100mil for 2 makassar class based strategic sealift vessel (SSV). So the 4 MRSS should cost no more than usd300mil in total.
https://scontent-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14595585_10154615447968928_1598429651503661251_n.jpg?oh=21c795df66bb585cc42f5cbf09802d1e&oe=5866CF0A
alex,
There is no RMN ship with a hangar large enough to accommodate a AW101. The Wildcat does not have ''minimal'' capability with the Super Lynx; a number of major components are common.
The RMN can't hold on retiring the Laksamanas much longer; their hulls are really worn out. Which is why I mentioned in the past that although there were feasibility plans to upgrade them, the RMN was reluctant to spend more than the minimum needed as it was felt that the cash could be better used elsewhere as opposed to old ships with worn out hulls and largely obsolescent. It was thanks to Dr. M that we got the Laksamanas, even though the RMN advised against buying them.
As I feared, the RMN might have to scale down its specs for the LMS due to budget issues. ''Fitted with'' but ''not for'' sounds great but the fact remains that most ships, worldwide, that are ''fitted for'' end up ''fitted for'' and not ''with''.
I'm not at all surprised to hear the RMN Chief talk about issues in upgrading the Super Lynxs. On paper, upgrading sounds and looks easy but in reality various issues are involved. Contrary to popular belief, at times the OEMs are not interested in certain upgrades not because they want to make more cash by selling new but because of the issues involved, the level of work involved and the prohibitive costs which the end user is not prepared to pay. In the past we looked at fitting a towed array to the Lekius but it was found to be too troublesome and the OEM was not too keen.
There is also the question of how much cash a customer is willing to spend upgrading a platform/aircraft already in use for some time; which is why I kept insisting that there were no serious plans to redo the Laksamanas as their hulls were too worn out. Back to the Super Lynx, as it is we only have 6 and they are over stretched supporting PASKAL as well as the myriad of other peacetime duties such as MEDEVAC, light replenishment, etc. Configuring them for ASW would mean they are good for ASW but little else! There's a reason why Super Lynx customers are not looking at upgrading theirs to Wildcat standard and why AgustaWestland isn't offering such an upgrade. There is also a reason why so few Lynx/Super Lynx operators have configured theirs to ASW .......