Rafizi: Delay in LCS project puts Malaysia's defence at a disadvantage

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 — Malaysia’s defence forces will find it hard to compete with its South-east Asian neighbours if there’s any further delay in the delivery of the littoral combat ships (LCS), PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli said today.

He pointed out that the design and technology for the commissioned offshore ships that are due to be completed only in 2024 are already outdated.

“It would be absurd to continue the existing contract with Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) that uses the specifications 10 years ago at multiple costs as that would only marginalise our military's defence capabilities compared to other countries in the region.

“We should be building defence capabilities that are comparable to other regional powers, like Indonesia,” he said in a statement.

In a comparison, he highlighted Indonesia’s long-term plan to modernise its naval fleet.

He said the project, dubbed Green Water Navy, would increase the Indonesian fleet to 274 ships.

“To date, the Indonesian military already has 12 coastal combat ships under the Clurit class and the Sampari class (although the specifications are different, these classes are seen as suitable coastal combat ships for Indonesian waters),” Rafizi said.

The former Pandan MP also urged Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to provide a clear update on Malaysia’s current LCS project.

He said transparency was required as there had been conflicting news reports with the Armed Forces chief General Tan Sri Affendi Buang giving different dates on the completion and delivery of the ships.

Rafizi said Hishammudin has also been reported telling Dewan Negara on August 8 that the first LCS will begin operating in “a year or two”.

According to Rafizi, this would mean the ships would have to be delivered this year or next.

“This statement contradicts the handover date as stated by General Tan Sri Affendi Buang in an interview on September 13, 2022 in conjunction with the Armed Forces Day,” he said.

Citing from Affendi’s reported remarks, Rafizi said this the navy would have only two LCS operational in 2026 with the first delivery in January followed by the second in September that same year.

The third would only be delivered in May 2027 while the fourth in January 2028 and the fifth ship in September 2028.

Rafizi noted that RM6 billion from the LCS project has already been spent, and added that the remainder of the allocated funds would be insufficient to build all six ships.

He said his calculations were based on Hishamuddin's remarks that the cost would reach RM11 million, and would only cover the cost to build two LCSs.

He posed three questions to Hishammuddin that he said the public needed to know: the exact number of vessels that would be built under the current contract with BNS; the actual overall cost the government would spend; and the actual delivery schedule for the LCSs.

The LCS project is said to be the largest defence procurement in Malaysia’s history with a total cost of RM9 billion.

The project to build six armed vessels capable of near-shore fighting reportedly began in 2013 and is supposed to be completed and delivered to the navy by end of next year.

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee released a report on August 8 that found the government had already paid RM6.083 billion to BNS, with not a single vessel delivered despite cost overruns of RM1.4005 billion.