THE littoral combat ships (LCS) will have to go through up to two years of port and sea trials before they can be officially commissioned, says Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
He said construction of the LCS vessel base has been completed.
“What’s left is the installation of weapons or electronics. The ships will go through harbour and sea trials, which will take between 22 and 24 months,” Mohamad said during Question Time in Parliament yesterday.
Mohamad responded to Commander (R) Nordin Ahmad Ismail (PN-Lumut), who asked about the steps to address the LCS project issue.
Six LCS ships in the multibillion-ringgit project, signed in 2014, were supposed to be delivered in stages beginning in 2019, but none have been completed so far.
On Jan 30, the government decided to reduce the number of LCS ships from six to five.
The LCS project was scrutinised after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) revealed that Putrajaya had already paid out RM6.08bil.
Meanwhile, Mohamad said the cost would remain the same even though five ships would be built instead of six.
“Due to variations from the original order and inflation, the price (to build one ship) has increased,” he said.
He added, his ministry has implemented some of the seven recommendations made by the PAC.
“Six recommendations were needed by the Defence Ministry, while another was under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
“From the six, four recommendations have been implemented,” said Mohamad, adding that the remaining two recommendations were a periodic report to the PAC and another to the special parliamentary committee.
“The PAC and the special parliamentary committee have yet to be appointed. When these committees are formed, the periodic report on the LCS project status will be tabled,” he added.
Mohamad said his ministry had tabled reports on the LCS acquisition to the Cabinet on four occasions – Nov 20, 2020; May 5, 2021; March 4, 2022; and April 20, 2022.
“On all four occasions, the government agreed that the LCS project should be continued to strengthen our defence systems,” he added.
Mohamad said the government is also finalising a Cabinet proposal to continue the project.
In August last year, the PAC said some RM1.4bil in government allocations for the project had been diverted for other purposes.
It added that five of the ships were supposed to be received by the Navy in August last year.
