Chinese shipyard completes construction phase of fourth Littoral Mission Ship for Malaysian Navy.

According to information published by the Malaysian Navy on December 16, 2020, the construction phase of the fourth Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) for the Malaysian Navy was completed and launched into the water at the Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group Ltd Shipyard, Wuhan, China to undergo port acceptance test phase.
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The fourth LMS Littoral Mission Ship for Malaysian Navy at the Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group Ltd Shipyard, Wuhan, China. (Picture source Royal Malaysian Navy)

After acceptance tests, it is planned that the fourth LMS will be handed over to the Royal Malaysia Navy in November 2021 and will join the 11th LMS Squadron with KD Keris (First LMS), Sundang (Second LMS), and the third LMS that has yet to be named.

Four units of the ships are jointly built by BNS (Boustead Naval Shipyard) and China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co. (CSOC) in China under a contract signed in April 2017 between the Government of Malaysia and the Government of People's Republic of China in April 2017. This marks the first-ever naval ship contract entered into by Malaysia with China. LMS is one of the five classes of ships in the RMN's 15 to 5 Fleet Transformation Program.

Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Berhad, known for its subsidiary Boustead Naval Shipyard and often abbreviated as BHIC and BNS is a Malaysian industrial group specialized in naval and commercial shipbuilding as well as ship-related services. Its primary focus is shipbuilding, fabrication of offshore structures, as well as repair and maintenance of vessels and equipment.

According to a technical brochure published on the Boustead Naval Shipyard, the LMS has a length of 68, a beam of 9.2 m, a depth of 5.1 m, and a displacement of 710 tones. She has a crew of 45 sailors and can accommodate 16 people with an endurance of 15 days.

The Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) is powered by two MTU 4000 3,600 kW series engines powering two fixed pitch propellers to a maximum speed of 22 knots with a maximum cruising range of 2,000 nm at 16 knots. The ship is also equipped with three 250 kW diesel generators and a single emergency diesel generator.

The Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) is armed with one 30mm automatic cannon and two heavy machine guns of 12.7mm caliber.