RMN to receive first littoral combat ship in 2025 - Hishammuddin

KUALA LUMPUR: The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) would receive its first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in 2025, said Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

He said he took an inclusive approach by engaging with all the stakeholders such as Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) and Boustead Holdings Bhd to address the issues in the procurement of the LCS.

He said the settlement initiatives outlined two main components, namely, corporate restructuring and fund raising, which also involved discussions with the Ministry of Finance and the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister's Department.

"Currently, the Defence Ministry is in the final stages of the negotiation to prepare the recovery plan. The workshops involving all the stakeholders for the LCS recovery plan were also held to ensure comprehensive recovery recommendations before bringing these up again to the Cabinet for approval and further action," he said when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill 2022 at the policy level in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Hishammuddin said the government had agreed to approve the LCS procurement application under the 10th Malaysian Plan (10MP) and 11MP with the 10-year implementation period from Oct 3, 2013 to Oct 2, 2023.

However, he said as of Oct 31 this year, the work progress for the LCS was at 57.05 per cent compared to the original work plan schedule of 96.57 per cent.

Overall, the procurement experienced a delay of 39.52 per cent or equivalent to 43 months, he added.

To a question from M.Karupaiya (PH-Padang Serai) on the increased cost of the LCS due to the procurement delay, Hishammuddin assured that the government would not pay more than the sum agreed with Boustead.

-- BERNAMA