Recapitalising the Navy, Sort Of

Marhalim Abas January 8, 2014 Malaysia -RMN

KUALA LUMPUR: The contract which will kick off the construction of the LCS/SGPV is expected to be signed by the end of the month, Royal Malaysian Navy chief Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar said today.

He however declined to say when actual construction for the first of the six-class LCS/SGPV will start as according to him, it depended on various factors. He said currently Boustead Naval Shipyard personnel were in France to finalise details on RMN’s latest vessel – expected to be in service by 2018.

Abdul Aziz admitted that it was quite important for the construction of the LCS/SGPV to start as soon as possible as the RMN was facing challenges in its ability to conduct its maritime operations as mandated by the government due to lack of hulls. He said RMN was involved in in eight operations presently which forced the command to be “very intelligent” to allocate precious resources.

Currently, RMN ships goes to sea for two weeks before returning to base for two days to refuel and re-supply before going back to sea for another two weeks patrol. Abdul Aziz admitted the high operational tempo was affecting morale and that was the reason he had emphasised to his commanders to ensure that their crew’s welfare and their families were taken care off

He declined to say the navy was facing a crisis,instead, calling the situation as a challenge to the RMN. He admitted however that if new assets were not made available in the future, RMN will be facing a crisis.

Abdul Aziz said they nearly got to procure the Nakhoda Ragam corvettes which were very similar to the Jebat class frigates. However due to budgetary reasons, the ex-Brunei corvettes went elsewhere, with reports suggesting that the three were by Indonesia. He said they were interested in acquiring vessels retired from other navies to ease the challenges but in the end it will depend the ships offered.

Abdul Aziz was speaking to reporters after delivering the annual RMN New Year Message at Wisma Pertahanan today. Some 500 Navy officers and other ranks were present at the event which was simulcast live to various RMN facilities across the country.

Meanwhile, Abdul Aziz said KD Kasturi, the first ship in the 22 Corvette Squadron had been declared operational following the completion of its SLEP programme. With the completion of the SLEP on Kasturi, its sister ship KD Lekir is currently at the Boustead Naval Shipyard facility to undergo the same refit programme.

The other corvette squadron, Skdn 24, is also undergoing a refit programme which will see the four Laksamana class ships be re-designated called Fast Attack Craft (Gun). Yes, the Laksamana class missile systems, the Aspide and the Otomat, have been retired as their RTN-10X fire control radar with Mk10 Argo fire control system are obsolete. A new electro-optical director will be used to control the 76mm and 40mm guns. The Laksamana class will also no longer be capable of anti-submarine warfare as their torpedo launchers have been transferred to the Kasturi and Lekir.

Funds for the above programmes mentioned above is the allocation for the RMN for this year. For ESSCOM, the Navy is set to commission two new vessels, a RHIB and a speedboat, both capable of doing 60 knots. Both vessels were built locally, the RHIB from a Muar shipyard while the speedboat from another yard from Johor Bahru.

– Malaysian Defence