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JAKARTA: The first piece of steel for the RMN’s first LCS programme is expected to be cut on December 5, said Royal Malaysian Navy chief Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar.

The steel is to be cut at a plant in Holland before it is shipped (in a complete building kit) to the Boustead Naval Shipyard in Malaysia where the built process of the first LCS is expected to start in the first quarter of 2015.

Speaking to Malaysian Defence on the first day of the Indo Defence 2014 show here, Abdul Aziz said as Malaysia did not have any steel plant capable of producing or cutting naval grade materials, BNS the main contractor for the LCS programme has to source it from Holland.

He also dismissed talk that the first LCS will be built in France. “All of the LCS will be built in Malaysia, we are only sourcing the steel from Holland,’ he added.

Abdul Aziz said six personnel from the RMN LCS project team were based at DCNS yard in Lorient to finalise the design of the vessel. They are expected to return home before the start of the construction of the first LCS in Lumut.

Asked whether the selection of the surface-to-surface missiles of the LCS had been confirmed, Abdul Aziz said there was a new development regarding the selection of the weapon system. He, however, declined to name the system selected pending a formal contract signing.

Analysis

Malaysian Defence had reported previously of the possibility that the first LCS will be built in France based on information from sources. It appeared that information were erroneous. The error came from the fact that the steel for the LCS is being sourced from Holland. Industry sources met at Indo Defence said that the steel for the Kedah class was also sourced from the same plant in Holland. The steel will arrive in Lumut as a complete building kit, consisting of highly accurate pre-cut and pre-formed plates, frames and profiles. All parts of the kit will arrive ready for assembly and welding which was the same method employed for the Kedah class construction.

On the SSM, it appears that Kongsberg’s New Strike Missile (NSM) – RMN choice – has been selected over the MBDA Exocet Block III. Details are fuzzy about the change to NSM however as Exocet has been in the works since the Gowind design was selected for the LCS programme. The SAM system however remained the VL Mica.

— Malaysian Defence

KUALA LUMPUR: Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BN Shipyard), a subsidiary of Boustead Holdings Bhd (BHB) and an associate company of Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC), yesterday signed a RM9 billion contract to design, build and deliver six second-generation patrol vessels with littoral combat ship capability for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN).

BN Shipyard was previously presented a letter of award (LOA) from the Ministry of Defense (MOD) on December 16 2011. The contract is to be implemented over Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Malaysia Plans.

BN Shipyard managing director Tan Sri Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor said:

“We are pleased to have formally signed this important contract
with the Ministry of Defence and we are honoured to be entrusted with carrying out this vital national project. Work on the final design and key procurement aspects of the project is well in hand, and the formal contract allows us to recognise a greater element of our ongoing work.”

KOTA KINABALU: The two Scorpene submarines based at the Teluk Sepanggar Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) base will be undergoing a refit or maintenance programme to ensure their operational capabilities are in good form, says Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

SHAH ALAM: We have heard statements regarding work on the first LCS had started but none of the traditional “steel cutting” which usually mark the first steps in building a new ship.

Talks about the manufacture of the LCS usually involved CAD/CAM work of the LCS by BNS together with the installation of a SETIS CMS on the ground for testing. Running a CMS for testing prior to installation is of course not new, the same thing was done during the manufacture of the Kedah class. But the start of any work at BNS shipyard in Lumut would have been preceded by a ceremony of some sort.

A recent visit by RMN Chief Admiral Tan Sri Aziz Jaafar to DCNS yard in Lorient, France, had changed my understanding of the so called”manufacture” of the LCS.

The release by TLDM (here) does not say much, but based on my checks with industry sources, it is likely that the first LCS is being built in Lorient.

I am not sure whether they will complete the full hull and out-fit it here in Malaysia or they are only building the various blocks before it is welded together in Lumut. It is likely however they will complete the hull first in France before the ship is towed back to Malaysia for final fitting.

Nonetheless what ever method they choose, I expect the first LCS is being built jointly by BNS and DCNS personnel. The BNS personnel involved in the first LCS project will then lead the building of the second vessel and the rest in Lumut under the supervision of DCNS personnel.

Using this method, they will reduced the risk for all the parties involved namely RMN and the builders BNS and DCNS. BNS personnel will also greatly increased their skills by working with DCNS personnel at the Lorient yard. Furthermore, once work starts in Lumut, BNS can reduced the number of DCNS personnel involved in the project in Malaysia.

But why have they not confirmed it instead of releasing ambiguous statements? I suspect that BNS (and the government) is fearful of being criticised especially when the government had touted all of the six LCS will be built locally.

Is building at least one of the LCS overseas wrong? Of course, not!. We all realised that BNS had not been building new ships since the end of the NGPV (Kedah Class) project hence they will lack the skills to embark on a project like building the LCS. Like other manufacturing project, ship building skills are lost when a project ends. Even in a more industrialised country like Australia this thing happens.

That is why some countries like France and the UK, ship building projects are financed by the government to ensure that the yards continue to have work and did not have to fire highly skilled workers who are the main factor in production quality ships. South Korea yards in the meantime, maintained their workers by building civil ships in between the naval ship building projects