KUALA LUMPUR: The Defence Ministry (Mindef) will see to the completion of the littoral combat ship (LCS) project for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) to strengthen its defence of national waters.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan (pic) said Mindef’s mission is to complete the ships by 2024.
"We want to make sure the ships are completed. If not all six, (at least) four, as long as they are completed during my tenure in Mindef.
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"I will continue the efforts begun by Mindef, the Malaysian Armed Forces as well as various other agencies and the Finance Ministry, Economy Ministry and the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) in realising the completion of the LCS,” he said when delivering the 2023 Defence Minister’s message at Wisma Pertahanan here on Thursday (Jan 5).
Mohamad said he had consulted the Finance Ministry, Economy Ministry and Mindef to get the full picture of the actual situation in the LCS project.
"We are not interested in suing anybody or putting someone behind bars... I’m only interested in seeing the ships in our waters by July 2024,” he said.
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Mohamad also said the country's defence development capability and capacity would continue with government allocations to Mindef amounting to RM17.4bil for operating and development expenditure.
"A total of 281 procurement plans with a projected value of RM8bil is for Armed Forces military asset maintenance and supplies.
"Among them are 155mm self-propelled howitzers, the restoration of KD Laksamana, KD Jerai and KD Lekir for RMN, as well as the maintenance of C130 aircraft and supply stockpiles for RMN aircraft.
"The agenda for acquiring maritime patrol aircraft, medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aircraft systems and light combat aircraft will continue, apart from prioritising the littoral ships. All this will receive due consideration by the Finance and Economy Ministries,” he said.
He said all projects must be expedited especially those involving one-off or special programmes which have to be paid for in the current year. – Bernama
