No more excuses please on LCS project, says Khaled

 Defence minister Khaled Nordin says he believes the finance ministry, which owns Lumut Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd, will 'take steps to preserve its good name' and ensure timely delivery of littoral combat ships.

Defence minister Khaled Nordin said the delay in the delivery of the littoral combat ships has affected the military’s defence preparedness.

KUALA LUMPUR:

Defence minister Khaled Nordin has taken a swipe at Lumut Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (Lunas), which is owned by the finance ministry, over the prolonged delay to the littoral combat ship (LCS) project.

Khaled maintained that the defence ministry was the customer or client in the LCS project, not the contractor tasked with building and delivering the vessels.

He said he hoped Lunas would not give any more excuses or delay the completion of the project beyond the current expected delivery date of April 2027.

“As the purchaser, the defence ministry is definitely hoping that the LCS vessels will be delivered (to us).

“If the new date is April 2027, we hope Lunas will not delay further or give any more excuses,” he said when winding up the ministry’s debate on the Auditor-General’s Report on the LCS project in the Dewan Rakyat today.

“I believe that, with the cooperation and commitment of the finance ministry, Lunas will not delay the delivery any further and hand over the ships to the defence ministry in April 2027.

“I believe the finance ministry will also take steps to preserve its good name, since Lunas is owned by the ministry.”

Khaled said the delay had affected the military’s defence preparedness.

The A-G’s report released on Monday said the LCS 1 could be handed over without complete training and weapon systems, and might not be fully operational until December 2035.

It found that trials and commissioning could not be completed on schedule, with five complementary contracts for weapons and support systems still incomplete.

The audit also found that, as of June 25, the overall LCS project was 7.55% behind schedule across all five ships, with delays ranging from 30 to 108 days.

The LCS project, which had an original cost of RM9 billion, is said to be the largest defence procurement in Malaysia’s history. Due to delays and cost overruns, the cost ballooned to RM11.22 billion while the number of vessels to be delivered was reduced from six to five. - FMT