Malaysia changes contract conditions on Littoral Mission Ship construction

CGI of the RMN's Littoral Mission Ship. Photo c/o Malaysia Defence.


As part of reforms initiated by the current Malaysian government to review contracts signed with China or Chinese companies, the contract for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) Littoral Mission Ships (LMS) was revised to reduce cost.

Due to the revision, Malaysian shipbuilder Boustead Naval Shipyard will not build the last two ships of the class, and will instead all four ships will be built by Wuchang Shipbuilding, through China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. 

This allows for the reduction of the total cost of the project from MYR1.17 billion (US$286.1 million) to MYR1.048 billion (US$256.8 million). This also means technology transfer requirements may be affected or removed from the deal.

The Chinese-made LMS are 68.8 meters long, with a beam of 9 meters and draft of 2.8 meters. It displaces at 700 tons full load, and with a maximum speed of 22 knots and range of 2,000 nautical miles at 15 knots.

It is armed with a 20mm or 30mm remote-controlled naval gun and two manually-operated 12.7mm heavy machine gun mounts. Further up-arming can be done but is currently not among the RMN’s urgent requirement.



[1] Malaysia Defence
[2] Jane’s Navy International
[3] Baird Maritime

Malaysia changes contract conditions on Littoral Mission Ship construction Malaysia changes contract conditions on Littoral Mission Ship construction Reviewed by Asia Pacific Defense Journal on March 22, 2019 Rating: 5

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