First LCS Launch this August

KM Arau. The other OPV donated by Japan to Malaysia. APMM

SHAH ALAM: The launch of the first LCS has been set on Aug. 24, 2017. The launch will be held at the Boustead Naval Shipyard in Lumut, where the six LCS under contract are built. Currently, the yard is building the first two LCS.

The date of the launch was announced in a tweet by the LCS Twitter account this morning. The post stated that a meeting was held at the Orien Star Hotel in Lumut to prepare for the launch of the ship, planned for Aug 24, 2017.

The tweet by the LCS team.

Malaysian Defence had reported previously on the August, launch date. However, this was the first official confirmation of the date.

Egypt first Gowind 2500 after her launching on Sept. 17, 2016. Note that the PISM has not been installed. DCNS

Can the launch be delayed? Based on the above, it appears all the technical requirements have been met for the Aug. 24 launch. However, the launch could be delayed, if the VIPs invited to the event, had to cancel their appearance at the last moment.

The first LCS during her keel laying ceremony in March 8, 2016. Bernama picture

It has happened before so do not be surprised if it happen this time around.

A profile picture of KM Arau. APMM.

Meanwhile, the second patrol boat donated by Japan for APMM is expected to sail home later this month. APMM in on its official Facebook page stated that the ship was in the final stages of its refurbishment in Japan.

The crew of KM Arau posed for a picture on the bridge. APMM.

The first patrol boat donated by Japan, KM Pekan arrived home in March, just in time for LIMA 17. Let’s hope, Arau will arrived home safely.

— Malaysian Defence

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11 Comments

  1. Great news all round!

    So it is confirmed that KM Arau is indeed PL01 Nojima/Oki
    http://www.vspg.net/jcg/pl01/pl01-1.jpg

    BTW JCG has launched a new Kunigami-class ship with the same former pennant number and name the KM Arau!

    Reply
    Yes, I was told to the effect that Pekan was supposed to be the PL-01 but since they wanted the ship to be ready for LIMA 17, they changed the hulls.

  2. Define launch. Does it mean just launch the hull into water?

    Reply
    What else does it mean? That is why I put the Egypt Gowind picture in the post. The first LCS should look similar after the launch

  3. LCS has lost its moment…..other defence industries in the region already launched its warship.

    Better late than never…….

  4. Marhalim, did you mention somewhere that KM Pekan has since been armed or am I dreaming?

    Reply
    Not sure about KM Pekan as I have not seen her personally or her pictures since LIMA. The boat that was armed was KM Perwira, check out the LIMA story.

  5. Since BNS have bought the design of gowind, can they build the original gowind 2500 design?

    Reply
    I guess so but will confirm when I met with BNS people next time around

  6. The RHIB boat was located by the TUDM beechcraft 200 mpa in the evening after getting informations from passing commercial ships.

    A RHIB lost for more than 50 hours should not happen. That boat should have EPRIB or emergency locator beacons on it. Time, assets and money expanded to seach for the missing RHIB could instead buy dozens of hand-held emergency locator beacons.

    The mother ship KD Perdana should not have left the RHIB on its own to chase another vietnamese fishing boat. Normal VBSS procedures would require the mother ship to always have the RHIB and the ship to be boarded within visual range at all times.

  7. Anything about potential names for the LCS? Hope it is not reusing the old Hang-s naming “traditions”. Prefer something up-to-date, universally accepted and reflective of the modern, culturally diverse Malaysia state. Something Malaysians can really rally behind. Perhaps a naming poll among Malaysians is in order. Always like how Singapore named their naval assets, with modern values like Tenacious, Steadfast, Independence, Unity etc…

  8. kerberos – ”modern values like Tenacious, Steadfast, Independence, Unity etc…”

    ”Modern values”? Different countries have different reasons or criteria to name their ships the way they do. The way the RSN goes about it is like the RN : HMS Splendid,Triumph, Daring, etc. We also went down this route in the past : KD Ganas, Serang, etc. My personal preference would be to name the LCS after cities.

  9. half of malaysian states didn’t have their name on navy ship yet…let it be KD Sabah or Sarawak or something like that

    Reply
    The naming convention means that the KD Sarawak or KD Sabah are meant for the Kedah class batch II..

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