SHAH ALAM: Its confirmed, Malaysia is buying China-made warships. Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein speaking at the ministry confirmed today that the contract will be signed on Nov 5.
“On November 5, 2016, the Defence Ministry will sign a contract for the procurement of Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) with SASTIND (The State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense of China), which is an important essence of the official visit of the Prime Minister to China by the end of the month,” Hishammuddin says at a gathering at the ministry.
He did not explained further about the contract but said later on social media that procurement of the LMS means that the RMN’s 15-to-5 plan was going ahead.
Industry sources told Malaysian Defence that the government-to-government deal will involved four ships. Malaysian Defence have reported about the proposal for the LMS previously, here.
It is likely that two of the LMS will be built in China, with the other being built locally by Boustead Naval Shipyard. It is likely the contract signing will include transfer of technology, whereas BNS could build more the LMS locally as the RMN had planned to have 18 of the vessels to replace a number of vessels currently serving with its fleet.
As reported previously, the four Laksamana class will be retired, most likely one after the other. As for the equipment it is likely that they will be equipped with guns only. It will be wired for missiles though.
A Google search revealed SASTIND is a civilian ministry within the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, responsible for setting policy for defense procurement.
It was previously called COSTIND. SASTIND reportedly administered various companies which produced military equipment for the China’s military including its two major shipyards, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC).
The contract signing is to take place in China as part of the official visit of the Prime Minister which starts tomorrow to November 6.
— Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (40)
Equipped with guns only???
So basically the LMS is just a fancy name for a Chinese made FAC.
Lets see what kind of ship it is, and how much does it cost.
So far the closest chinese design to the target 70m size is the durjoy class of the Bangladesh navy, and the azmat class of Pakistan navy.
really want to see list of warship type that china can produce..
"Equipped with guns only???"
Isn't this a good thing- we can avoid buying China made weapons which would otherwise undermine our cost saving initiative. Maybe this is the navy's way of avoiding, and of getting more hulls quickly for patrol use.
Hopefully the sensors and other plant are also Western.
so, it is a good news or bad news?
... says:
October 25, 2016 at 6:09 pm
So basically the LMS is just a fancy name for a Chinese made FAC.
Lets see what kind of ship it is, and how much does it cost.
I think the PRC government will foot the bill for us at this time.
The defence budget is far too stretched.Too much hutang for the country or GST is making us poor or the economy is in stagflation due false income hike and no rain?
70m is rather short for a heavy corvette.76m by DSHE of ROK, 80 m is OK, 89m is better length and 98m-100m is the most suitable of all like the Irish OPV.
No helipad or hangar, UAV for recon duties,torpedoes and missiles or ASW sonars?
Sad state of affairs for being poor and owing debts. I am sulking and sobbing right now,
@ ahmad zaki
Do realise that the LMS is not meant to be a substitute for an OPV or a frigate. It is meant to be a fighting ship suited to navigating the shallow waters near to shore. For the tasks that you mention, the navy is looking at building additional Kedah class NGPV OPV for that.
@ ahmad zaki
Do realise that the LMS is not meant to be a substitute for an OPV or a frigate. It is meant to be a fighting ship suited to navigating the shallow waters near to shore. For the tasks that you mention, the navy is looking at building additional Kedah class NGPV OPV for that.
As I see it,this is a win-win situation. The RMN will get their vessels quickly. I suspect it will be a variant of the Type 56 corvette. By the way, a vessel armed with only a gun will be very adequate as these vessels are not meant to be major combatants. Even the LMS of the Singapore Navy has only guns, but added MICA for self-defense. The best option is for the Chinese built vessels to be brought home for finishing [like what happened to the Australian LHDs].
The Laksamana class has probably been a good buy. I remember someone saying that the Navy did not want them in the first place. However, as the hulls are now worn out, it also meant that they were put to good use after all.
This also means that the Kedah class can be finally upgraded to ASW and full combat capability as the next step for the Navy.
As for me, I would like to wait and see first since this is just preliminary stage and it is too early to make assumptions that this ship is not capable, or other nasty remarks. Even though the length that requires by navy is 70m but the design have yet being finalized. So how come some of the readers can make such a bad conclusion that this ship is exactly the same like the pakistan one with no hangar for uav, and so on? Even though IF this ship being built according to the concept of FFBNW I think, still ok because we can sumbat the ship with western made weapon and sensors or we have the provision on that items, who knows? So just wait and see first as the detail design is not finalized yet.