Malaysia is expected to receive three LMS ships from Turkiye 2027 – Minister of Defense

MACHANG : The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) is expected to receive three littoral mission ships (LMS) from Turkey in 2027, said Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

According to the Minister of Defence, procurement of the three ships began in October followed by November and December of that year.

He also informed that the construction of the littoral combat ship (LCS) is going smoothly according to schedule.

“The ships (LMS) from Turkiye are expected to complete all three in 2027, thus we will have five LCS one year and three LMS, then we will acquire others in addition to the existing ships that can be used,” he said.

Mohamed Khaled said this at a press conference after officiating the Machang Division UMNO Meeting, here, last night.

Previously, Malaysia and Turkey held talks to finalize the acquisition of the ship through the country’s shipbuilding company, Turkiye Savunma Teknolojieri Muhendiskil (STM) which supplied the LMS of the second batch of Class Ada corvettes to TLDM.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Khaled also explained that the Auditor-General’s Report (LKAN) which stated that the delay in the completion of five LCSs that should have been received in 2019 to 2022 did not happen last year, but in the past few years.

He said the Unity Government is committed to continuing the LCS ship construction project with the expectation that by 2026 the ship can be used to monitor the country’s waters.

Mohamed Khaled said, the first ship of the LCS was successfully launched on the water recently, however, the equipment installation work is currently being carried out.

After the installation work, he explained, the ship will go through a trial period or sea trial for two years with the expectation that the ship will be fully operational by 2026.

He also informed that the Unity Government has successfully resolved the issue of the ship by ensuring that its construction goes well.

Mohamed Khaled also agreed with LKAN that there are obsolete TLDM ships, however, his side is implementing retrofits so that the existing ships can be used.

Previously, LKAN revealed that the delay in the completion of five LCS ships that should have been received in 2019 to 2022 was identified as one of the performance factors of procurement and the receipt of TLDM ships until December 31 was unsatisfactory.

It thus affects the ship holding target under the TLDM Transformation Program #15to5 which is designed to increase the combat capability of maritime operations and deal with the issue of TLDM ship obsolescence in stages.