LMS 3 Coming

Third LMS after her launch in October 2020. RMN

SHAH ALAM: LMS 3 coming. RMN’s third China-made warship, LMS 3 is expected to be delivered by the end of this month (September), says Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein (though not exactly ) today while the upgraded CN-235 will be delivered by the end of November.

In a press release issued on the first day of the current Parliament sitting, he said as part of the 100-day KPI of the ministry:

Sementara itu, sejajar dengan arahan YAB Perdana Menteri supaya setiap
Kementerian menunjukkan hasil dan memenuhi petunjuk prestasi utama (KPI) dalam tempoh 100 hari pertama, Task Force MINDEF berkaitan usaha memenuhi KPI berkenaan akan fokus terhadap pelaksanaan inisiatif
terutamanya yang berimpak tinggi dan memberi manfaat secara langsung kepada keselamatan negara serta kebajikan warga ATM, MINDEF dan rakyat secara keseluruhan.

Ia antara lain termasuklah melaksanakan perolehan Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) yang dijangka pada hujung September; melaksanakan perolehan pesawat Maritime Surveillance Aircraft yang dijangka pada hujung November; menyediakan lebih 2,000 unit Rumah Keluarga Angkatan Tentera (RKAT)
baharu bagi manfaat anggota ATM pada hujung Oktober; serta membaikpulih lebih 100 unit rumah milik veteran ATM atau jika perlu ia akan dibina baru.

Selain itu, Operasi BENTENG yang dilaksanakan sejak Mei tahun lalu juga akan terus diperkukuh pelaksanaannya bagi memastikan Operasi ini yang melibatkan kerjasama bersepadu antara 19 agensi termasuk ATM terus berupaya mencapai matlamatnya iaitu mengawal sempadan negara daripada kemasukan PATI serta mengekang penularan wabak COVID-19 yang mungkin
dibawa oleh mereka.

Perkembangan berhubung pelaksanaan perkara-perkara ini akan dimaklumkan dalam tempoh 100 hari.

A sailor on board KD Sundang with a pintle mount with a Vektor SS-77 machine gun during an exercise in March, 2021. RMN

For those with little knowledge on what’s going on the national security scene, the announcement on the LMS and MSA seemed a big deal but for all of us here, its really a bit misleading. It is also disheartening that the release which started on the budget did not say or touched anything on how much money was expected for this year and RMK12. As for the LMS, with just 17 days away from the end of September, one would expect the minister would be able to say the exact delivery date instead off “by the end of the month” generalisation.

The MD530G fitted with the FN Herstal rocket machine gun pod and a Gatling. This is a likely weapon configuration for the LSH.

And as the minister who signed off the MD MD530G light scout attack helicopter contract back in 2016, it is also disheartening to see that its firm delivery schedule is still up in the air.

RMAF CN-235 M44-03 at PTDI facility in Bandung for conversion into an MSA Picture taken on 3 Oct 2020. PTDI

— Malaysian Defence

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17 Comments

  1. As with his first stint, H2O will likely stinge with the defence budget and ride on those previous initiatives underway. RMK12 should be tabled out by end of the year as it was delayed so my guess is only then will we have clarity on the cash available. I do hope this round he will take responsibility on the LCS fiasco and push hard in allocating extra budget to complete them.

  2. So who’s the right man to helm the mindef then? Defmin position is not for the weak hearted person..i cant remember the last time we got one okeyish defmin..najib maybe

  3. The person who is responsible is the then Defence Minister, plus the flawed policy we have in place which enabled the cock up to occur. As usual the needs of the local industry took precedence of that of the end user and taxpayer.

  4. Still a lil bit confuse about this lms ships especially that 4 units ‘batch 1’..are they intended to replace the laksamanas or the kasturis or both?..Hopefully LMS batch 2 will properly replace them sooner rather than later..

  5. The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) is focusing on four main agendas of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) to be highlighted in Budget 2022 and the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP), said Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

    1)enhancing efforts on the welfare of military personnel and veterans,
    2)placing strengthening national security as the top priority,
    3)maintaining the level of capability and readiness;
    4)focusing on maintaining existing assets.

    same old story 😞

  6. @Hairy
    Depends on how you look at things. He is probably the least corrupted (AFAIK) of all the last Menhans, or the least imba or ineffective, but when compared to Ismail Sabri who still managed to wrung out buys after buys even when money are in need for the fight against Covid, H2O cannot past muster.

  7. Firdaus,

    Najib? Is this comedy hour? Look at things in totality.

    — He was the Defence Minister when we were making the transition from internal to external defence in order of priority. .
    – That was at a time when we were experiencing higher sustained growth rates. The RM was also stronger.
    – Major decisions were made by Najib’s boss with the Cabinet just as a rubber stamp.
    – Under Najib’s time we bought various things which came with a huge penalty to the end user and taxpayer.

  8. Reality check….

    Even if he wasn’t ‘weak” the decisions arent his alone – decisions are driven by policy …

    One can have the most capable Minister with the best of intentions but it will all account for nothing if the policy remains highly flawed. It’s not the individual but the policy we’ve long had in place. If only it was as simple as having the right Minister in place.

    That is the reason we’re in the rut we’re in, because of our highly flawed and self defeating fundamentally flawed policy which no Minister on his own can change even if he wanted to..

  9. Only govt procument policy flawed, most glaring in MOD, I think.

    Defence policy like KESBAN & HANRUH is it in use now or a history subject?

  10. Actually a lot of our policies and not just defence are fundamentally flawed and in need of deep revamp.

    Whils many remain fixated with the individual rather than than the system [as if the individual drives and dusted policy], first ask hether the political leadership really understands the role the MAF plays both in peace and war time?

    Are we contend at keeping things as they are or is there the will to fundamentally change things? We been doing things in the wrong manner for so long that it’s become deeply ingrained. Everything, from the self defeating role local.firns play to the self sufficiency illusion to the way we decide on procurement is in need of deep revamp. Failure to do that means we’ll continue to screw ourselves.

  11. HANRUH and KESBAN are still an integral part of our defence policy. Naturally due to changing circumstances we placed more importance on them in the past.

  12. Firdaus,

    No the Kasturis are not in immediate need if replacing. Still good to go for a few more years.

    The Laksamanas however are long overdue for the scrap yard.

  13. 100 days achievement n he quoted Ops Benteng n the LMS?. Oh my!.
    I would put on him the MD 500G n the LCS ships. That would really show good performance if he can resolve these 2 issues. Dont quote those sucessful programmes. If I put a clerk in charge of the LMS the programme would be an undoubted success

  14. So what did H20 do to say that it is “HIS” achievement with Ops benteng and LMS?

    LMS arrival and CN-235 MSA arrival is “HIS” achievement?

    Those things would still move on as planned even if there is no Menhan!

    What did he actually moved forward in 100 days?

    Did he seriously took charge of the long delayed LCS program?

    Did he push to quickly get a proven MALE UAV for TUDM as soon as possible?

    Did he tell the army to relook its future plans to better take into account how the army can contribute more to our maritime security?

    So what did he actually do? Just rubber stamp for plans that already in motion?

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