Malasia reflexiona sobre sus proyectos de LCS retrasados

Mindef Mulls Delayed Littoral Combat Ships Project

Mindef consider three options for LCS : to be continued by Naval Group, to be continued by Boustead, or terminated the contract. Naval Group or Boustead to complete at least two LCS units (photo : Bernama)

KUALA LUMPUR -- The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) is considering three options in relation to the direction of the littoral combat ship (LCS) project, which has been been delayed, said its Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaacob.

He said that, as at July 31, none of the six LCS ships had been successfully completed by Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNSSB).

The overall work progress status of the project was 56.67 per cent compared to the original plan of 85.73 per cent, a delay of 31.1 months (29.06 per cent), he said.

Following that, a memorandum would be presented to the Cabinet after the ministry’s top management made a final review of the documents in the near future, he added.

“The first option is for the project to be continued by appointing Naval Group France as a rescue contractor through a Deed of Assignment with BNSSB using the remaining contract ceiling to complete at least two LCS units.

“As for the second option, the project is continued by BNSSB with the remaining contract ceiling to complete at least two LCS units,” he said while winding up the debate on the motion of thanks for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's royal address for his ministry in the Dewan Rakyat, today.

Ismail Sabri said that the third option is the termination of the contract with BNSSB and the ministry starting efforts to save the project.

He said the ministry did not intend to inject additional funds to complete the LCS, instead BNSSB was asked to use the remaining allocation to continue the project.

“The government will not pay the debts acquired by BNSSB as requested by the company, however, the government will implement the payment to obtain the rights and complete the Detailed Design.

“Besides that, the government (will) make a claim for all the blocks and hulls of ships and LCS equipment purchased by BNSSB as the government has paid almost RM3 billion for this purpose,” he said.

He added that the current progress status for LCS 1 is at 59.79 per cent; LCS 2 (48.09 per cent); LCS 3 (43.75 per cent); LCS 4 (36.49 per cent) and LCS 5 (20 per cent) while LCS 6 has yet to start construction.

Bernama

LCS de la US Navy desplegado en Singapur

USN Marks Fourth Littoral Combat Ship Deployment in Singapore after 19-Month Hiatus

The US Navy has deployed its fourth littoral combat ship to Singapore. The vessel will be involved in maritime security, and capacity-building efforts with partners in the region over the next few months (photo : USN 7th fleet)

The US Navy's (USN's) Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Montgomery (LCS 8) arrived at Singapore's Changi Naval Base on 6 July, marking the service's fourth rotational deployment of this vessel type to the republic.

Montgomery is part of the USN's long-standing plan to rotationally deploy LCSs out of Singapore. Previous ships that have operated out of the republic's Changi and Sembawang naval bases are namely USS Freedom (LCS 1), USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), and USS Coronado (LCS 4).

Coronado departed Singapore in November 2017 after a 14-month tour-of-duty in Southeast Asia, and there have been no other rotational deployments of the LCS in the republic since then.

"Rotational deployments by our littoral combat ships provide the presence and flexibility that are so important in this region," said Rear Admiral Joey Tynch, commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific, in a statement released by the US Embassy in Singapore.

"This platform is a utility player, ready to perform a full spectrum of tasking from maritime security operations and theatre security co-operation to humanitarian assistance and disaster response. That versatility strengthens our ability to integrate with our partner navies in the Indo-Pacific," he said.

Jane's

Puesta la quilla del cuarto LCS para Malasia

BHIC Lays Down Keel for Fourth LCS

Keel laying of fourth LCS (photo : RMN)

Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS), an associate of Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC), hosted a keel laying ceremony for the fourth unit of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) at Boustead Naval Shipyard (BN Shipyard) in Lumut, Perak, today.

The ceremony marked the symbolic progress of the construction of the fourth of six units of LCS, a powerful warship that will bolster Malaysia’s maritime defence ordered by RMN from BNS. They will replace ageing RMN warships and will be a significant addition to RMN’s armada in transforming itself into a lean, mean, modern and highly capable navy.

The LCS’ dimensions are as impressive as its power and capabilities. It has a length overall of 111 m, a beam main deck of 16 m and a depth main deck of 8.35 m. It will feature a crew of highly trained 138 RMN personnel. The ship can sail at a maximum speed of 28 knots with an endurance of 21 days at sea.

The LCS is capable of operating in multi-dimensional warfare situations, thanks to its impressive array of state-of the-art armaments. These include BOFORS medium calibre gun, VL MICA surface to air missiles, NSM surface to surface missiles, TLS-M SEA torpedo launching system and SYLENA Mk2 decoy launching system. Its combat and sensor systems are equally as impressive, which include the cutting edge SETIS Combat Management System, VIGILE 100 Mk2S Electronic Warfare System and SMART-S Mk2 search radar.

Located in Lumut, Perak next to the RMN base, BN Shipyard is the largest naval shipyard in Malaysia in terms of capacity. It has a strong track record and proven capabilities in the construction and repair of naval vessels. It can also undertake the construction and reparation of commercial vessels including luxury yachts, anchor handling tugs and offshore supply vessels. The yard is also a fabrication centre for container cranes and heavy steel structures such as topsides for the oil & gas industry.

The laying of the keel was officiated by Yang Berhormat Senator Liew Chin Tong, Deputy Defence Minister. In his address, Senator Liew said that the Government was pleased that a project of such magnitude utilising high technology can be undertaken at a local shipyard and features much local content in areas such as design, engineering and construction.




“This augurs well with the Government’s aspiration to enhance skilled human resources to make Malaysia a high income economy through skills based, value adding and innovation driven activities,” said Senator Liew.

BNS’ Managing Director, who is also BHIC’s Executive Deputy Chairman and Managing Director, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Ahmad Ramli Hj Mohd Nor, said, “The keel laying ceremony of this fourth unit of LCS stands testimony to BN Shipyard’s ability to undertake and deliver sizeable newbuilding projects of national importance.”

“BNS is proud to work with RMN’s LCS team to deliver these ships which are of tremendous strategic value to the nation’s maritime defence and will become among the key assets to safeguard the nation’s maritime interests and support its defence diplomacy,” said Ahmad Ramli.

Ahmad Ramli added, “We are encouraged by the Government’s continuous support of our nation’s maritime defence effort, and we are hopeful that this will bode well for BN Shipyard and its vendors. As a Government Linked Company, BHIC puts great emphasis in developing vendors by giving them the opportunity to be involved in huge projects such as LCS, and exposure to high technology required in its construction.”

“Construction of the first four units of LCS, including this fourth one, is progressing well. BN Shipyard is on track to deliver all six units of the LCS to RMN by 2023 as targeted and we are proud to be involved in this prestigious project and contribute to national security through building these assets,” said Ahmad Ramli.


Focus

Carta de intención para VL MICA para Malasia

LOI for VL MICA for LCS Signed

MBDA VL MICA surface-to-air missile 

MICA On The Way

KUALA LUMPUR: One of the three letters of intent (LOI) handed out on Apr. 18 at DSA 2018, was for the VL MICA surface-to-air missiles by MBDA.

The MICAs are being bought to arm the LCS, of course. Unlike the NSM, this was not a contract yet, though it is likely to be awarded soon.

As Malaysian Defence (MD) had posted earlier, MBDA had been contracted by BNS to supply the launchers and associated equipment though not the missiles. All weapons for the LCS – from guns to missiles – are “government furnished equipment” to be supplied directly to BNS once the contracts had been awarded. Hence it is the government (through the Defense Ministry) that signed the contract and LOI for the missiles – NSM and MICA -with Kongsberg and MBDA, respectively.

As for cost and number of MICA missiles to be procured, MD have yet to double confirm them. However as the six LCS each supposedly has 16-launchers each, we can assume at least 100 missiles will be procured. It is likely also that both the RF and IR versions of the missile will be bought.

Anyhow from the schematic of the LCS as shown by BNS at DSA 2018, MD think that they could fit the Aster 15 or 30 missiles for the follow on ships, if funding is available of course. The schematics showed the A-35 launcher on the LCS penetrated only one deck with at least three decks below. Of course they need to redesign the whole bow area if they do this but MD dont think its undoable or expensive. The expensive part is of course the missiles itself!

Converting the first six LCS for Asters however will be quite expensive as they need to modify at least two deck at least.


Malaysian Defence

S-70B singapurés en el LCS americano

Singapore Debuts S-70B Naval Helicopter on Board US Navy LCS

A Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk naval helicopter from the Republic of Singapore Air Force lands on the USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) during deck landing qualifications as part of 'CARAT' 2015.

In a sign of greater interoperability between the armed forces of the two countries, the US Navy's (USN's) Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) has conducted deck landing qualifications for a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF's) S-70B naval helicopter during a bilateral naval exercise.

"The RSAF's S-70B Seahawk deck landing qualification on board Fort Worth during this year's Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training' ('CARAT') 2015 Singapore was the first time that the aircraft has landed on a littoral combat ship," Lieutenant Lauryn Dempsey, spokeswoman for the USN's Destroyer Squadron 7, said in response to questions from IHS Jane's on 27 July.

The qualifications were conducted during the sea phase of the exercise, part of a series of bilateral naval drills between the USN and the armed forces of nine partner countries in south and Southeast Asia.

'CARAT' Singapore 2015 ran from 13-24 July and featured ashore and at-sea phases, the latter focusing on conventional maritime warfare operations including anti-air, anti-surface, and anti-submarine operations.

"With LCS now a routine presence in the region, the ability to cross-deck RSAF helicopters on LCS brings significant versatility to our joint operations together, and provides opportunities for our navies to strengthen our interoperability during future exercises," Lt Dempsey said.

Another highlight of this year's drills was the inaugural deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in conventional maritime operational scenarios by both the USN and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).

The RSN operated Boeing-Insitu ScanEagle UAVs from its Victory-class guided-missile corvettes RSS Vigour (P 92) and RSS Valour (P 89), while the USN deployed a Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout UAV from Fort Worth . The UAVs were employed for maritime surveillance operations.

An RSAF S-70B helicopter operating from the RSN's Formidable-class frigate RSS Supreme (73) also took part in combined torpedo firing exercises with a USN MH-60R Seahawk helicopter.

"CARAT Singapore has increased in scope and complexity over the years," Colonel Seah Poh Yeen, co-commander of the task group for 'CARAT' Singapore 2015, said in a statement released by Singapore's Ministry of Defence on 22 July. "The successful conduct of the combined torpedo firing and the UAV operations underscores the high level of interoperability and trust both navies have achieved," he said.

The US and Singapore armed forces have been involved in the 'CARAT' exercises series since it began in 1995. Following 'CARAT' Singapore 2015, additional bilateral phases of the exercise will occur through November 2015 with Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Timor-Leste.

Jane's