PENGERANG: The construction of the littoral combat ships (LCS) is expected to resume early next year after the completion of the mobilisation process at the end of this year, said Royal Malaysian Navy Chief Admiral Tan Sri Mohd Reza Mohd Sany.
He said the LCS mobilisation phase was expected to be completed by the end of December.
"As far as I know, negotiations with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and vendors are going well," he said after the passing-out parade of the RMN recruits in Tanjung Pengelih here today.
He said the mobilisation phase that started in June involved Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd which carried out negotiations with OEMs to start construction when the phase ended.
Reza said the company had completed negotiations and had presented the results to the project monitoring committee jointly chaired by the secretaries-general of the Treasury and Defence Ministry before being presented to the cabinet.
Caretaker Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had said the first LCS was expected to be completed within two years.
On the proposal to upgrade the new generation patrol vessel (NGPV), Reza said some of the systems in the six vessels built 10 years ago were obsolete or worn out and spare parts could not be obtained.
"The time has come for us to change the systems on this ship. However, all these processes are subject to the provisions provided," he said.
He said most RMN assets needed to be upgraded replaced because some of them were more than 40 years old.
"Therefore, the procurement of new RMN ships is very critical for a competent navy." -- Bernama