Malaysia to procure eight more Littoral Mission Ships

Putrajaya is acquiring eight more Littoral Mission Ships for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN).

The vessels will be known as ‘New LMS Second Batch', the Malaysian Minister of Defence Hishammuddin Hussein said in his annual address to the staff of the ministry on 17 January.

However, no further details on this programme were given, with the minister only adding that the matter is being discussed.

The Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) or Keris-class programme is Malaysia's first order for naval ships from China. A contract for four vessels was signed between Putrajaya and the trading subsidiary of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) in April 2017.

The first vessel, KD Keris (111), was commissioned in January 2020. The second vessel, KD Sundang (112), was inducted into service in March 2021, and the third-of-class, KD Badik (113), was commissioned in October 2021.

The RMN received the fourth vessel, Rencong (114), in December 2021, and the boat will be commissioned on 28 January, Hishammuddin said at the same event.

Hishammuddin also said that the RMN will receive in March 2022 the first of three new Leonardo AW139 airframes ordered under the country's Maritime Operations Helicopter (MOH) programme.