The project on the construction of the littoral combat ships (LCS) is expected to resume next month, said Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) chief Admiral Datuk Abdul Rahman Ayob.
The construction will resume after the sixth supplemental agreement was signed at the 2023 Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2023 (LIMA 2023) in May.
“Five LCS vessels will be handed over to the RMN in stages, with the first ship expected to be handed over at the end of 2026,” he told a media conference after the closing ceremony of the ANGSA (Air and Sea) Exercise Series 14/23 at the Kota Kinabalu RMN Base in Sepanggar, earlier today.
On the littoral mission ship (LMS) project, Abdul Rahman said they are still identifying suitable builders to carry out the project based on the specifications stipulated by RMN.
“The allocation has already been given out, we hope the contract can be signed this year, at the latest, and construction can begin next year as we expect it will take 36 months to be completed,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chief of Air Force Gen Tan Sri Mohd Asghar Khan Goriman Khan said RMAF had signed a contract to purchase a new ATR 72 maritime patrol aircraft which is expected to enter the RMAF inventory from 2026, in addition to a contract for the first phase of the purchase of three Turkiye-manufactured unmanned aerial systems (UAS) units.
Earlier, he said that apart from enhancing the level of preparedness and mutual service between RMN and RMAF, the ANGSA Exercise this time is a driver for improving tactics, techniques and procedures between the two services at the operational and tactical levels.“I hope efforts to increase these mutual elements will continue to be further enhanced to form a more mature and reliable task force in the collective implementation of maritime domain operations,” Mohd Asghar Khan said.
