LCS Induction Year End

LCS PCU Maharaja Lela. Her name could be seen on the stern. Picture taken on Aug. 23. 2017. The picture was taken on the open upper deck of a Pangkor ferry. Malaysian Defence picture

SHAH ALAM: LCS induction year end. RMN chief Adm Reza Sany today said that the navy is expected to induct the first two LCS by year end. This is wonderful news indeed compared to what we have been told last year. However as I was not able to able to attend the function at Jalan Padang Tembak today I am not able to say what “induction” really meant.

Anyhow, Reza in his new year message – the copy of which was made available to Malaysian Defence – outlined four main thrusts of the service, namely boosting the fleet readiness, rebuilding it based on the 15 to 5 plan, enhancing jointness and preparing the manpower for the future.

A CGI of the LCS.

To boost the RMN fleet readiness, Reza said that all four ships of the 24 Corvette Squadron will be made operational from the two currently within this year. The same will be done for the 26th Mine Hunting Squadron with all four ships (Mahamiru class) be returned to full operational capabilities by next year. Work on the two mine hunters in storage will start as soon as possible.

KD Kinabalu (14) and KD Mahamiru (12), the two Mahamiru-class MCMV. TLDM

He also said that modifications will be made to the Kedah class and fast attack craft squadrons to ensure they are fully capable undertaking their assigned tasks. The refitting and modifications are aimed at ensuing the RMN fleet are at 75 per cent readiness rate by 2020.

Two Kedah class, KD Kelantan (175) and KD Selangor (176) berthed at Lumut jetty in early 2014. The ship on the other side is KD Mahawangsa. Malaysian Defence

As for the rebuilding plan, Reza said they are working to ensure that RMN will have a credible fleet by 2030. The navy he said was also preparing to take delivery of the two China made LMS by September this year. RMN was also preparing to claim compensation for the late delivery of the LCS.

The latest CGI of the LMS. Note the main gun and containers on the foredeck.

The service was also working to ensure the funding for the new helicopters are secured and planned acquisition of the MRSS.

Three MRSS designs on display at the RMN booth at DSA 2018

Reza said of all these was aimed to ensure that the RMN slogan “We Exist Because Of The Fleet” was not just a rhetoric but priority in all consideration.
–Malaysian Defence

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16 Comments

  1. Great news indeed.

    As for the 24 sqn corvette. All 4 fully operational? Isn’t those Laksamana corvettes are supposed to be retired and replaced 1 to 1 by the new LMS?

  2. “Reza said that all four ships of the 24 Corvette Squadron will be made operational from the two currently within this year”

    Maksudnya kesemua 4 korvet Laksamana class tidak akan di-retired lg dan akam digunakan dlm masa yg lama lg.Berita baik juga sebab tak berkurang lah kapal TLDM

  3. I don’t want to be too optimistic but it sounds like the Kedah-class will finally get the systems that it was fitted for but not with.

    If that is the case will they get upgraded from OPV to Corvette? Whatever the case it may be I hope that TLDM continues with its efforts.

  4. @ WMD from sabah

    Yes it would be great if the Kedah Class to be fully armed. But it the great scheme of things and with the limited budget available, we need to prioritise and things like MRSS IMO is more important than diverting money for the Kedah Class.

    This is what I think we should do

    https://www.malaysiandefence.com/another-look-rmn-15-to-5

    No more PV for TLDM

    Reply
    AFAIK there is no funding to arm the PV with missiles. I think what the chief was saying was that they will make sure any defects on the ships will be fixed ASAP so they could be put to sea. We can hope though

  5. I don’t think there’s funding for Kedah missiles when RAM is around $700,000 per missile at least for basic model, maybe $1m+ for higher blocks

    Besides for OPV it’s not that mission critical.

  6. @ Api69

    The problem is there is no official standard of terminology used by our armed forces.

  7. @ …

    Yeah. But in this case, I think it is safe to assume that induct does not mean commission. From the info I get, no way the ship will be able to be delivered, or even undergo any sort of acceptance trials, by the end of this year.

  8. @Api69
    You have good knowledge on the progress status of the LCS built. Possible to share with us the percentage estimate where the first and second ship status are now? What are the major obstacles faced by Boustead?

  9. As always, delayed is normal on schedule is strange to us. Its same story happened to the NGPV which delayed for several years from the original schedule. On the paper its look very convincing,but come to the progress need to prepare for delay. We never take the past as is as experience and no any stern action and plan to prevent schedule delay. Regretted the same story happend.However, wish everythig is good in 2019 and hope can see significant improvement on the working method.

  10. Reactivating the old ships means they will not be pursuing the LMS after that 2 unit class.

  11. As … said, the LMS are overpriced and will have no commonality with anything in the fleet

    Clearly it was part of the bailout deal for Najib

    We’re better off keeping it to however many ships have been locked in, and getting something else

  12. @ Chua

    The overpriced chinese slowpoke LMS68 is one thing.

    The one that I am most afraid of is the Revolutionary Littoral Mission Ship concept of DSA 2018. IMO that is totally the wrong direction to rectify the deficiency of the LMS68 platform.

    I have written alot here on my opinion on how best to move forward with the LMS concept, and i really hope they wont go into the RLMS concept which is basically an OPV in the class of NGPV Kedah.

  13. Seeing the ships have no commonality and introduce new logistical burdens as they are, let alone if integrated with anything, it might be best to employ them in as basic a configuration as possible. If not the Navy, the best place for them might be the MMEA.

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