LCS 1 Delivery Rescheduled To April 2027 - Mohamed Khaled

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 (Bernama) -- Lumut Naval Shipyard (LUNAS), the company building Malaysia’s first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS 1), has set April 2027 as the new delivery date for the vessel to the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) under Phase 1.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said LUNAS had previously been unable to commit to or guarantee delivery by December this year.

“The delay will affect the readiness of the Malaysian Armed Forces and national defence.

“As the buyer, the ministry expects the LCS to be delivered. With the new date set for April 2027, we hope LUNAS will have no further excuses or delays,” he said when winding up the debate on the Auditor-General’s Report (LKAN) No. 2/2026 for the ministry in the Dewan Rakyat today.

As such, MINDEF has issued a notice of Liquidated Ascertained Damages (LAD) to LUNAS as a demonstration of the government’s seriousness over the delay, he said.

Mohamed Khaled said MINDEF, together with the Ministry of Finance, would take the necessary measures to monitor the project and ensure the new delivery date was met.

He said LCS 1 was 86.39 per cent complete as of August, but was still 13.61 percentage points behind schedule. The delay had been reduced by 0.27 percentage points.

Meanwhile, several issues raised in LKAN No. 2/2026 had also progressed, including the Integrated Logistics Support and Technical Aids contract, which was signed on Aug 26.

The contract enables various activities and tests on the vessel to proceed, as well as support work and training.

The procurement of 30mm Medium Calibre Gun ammunition and the Integrated Decoy Launching System is still under direct negotiation.

For the surface-to-air missile procurement, Mohamed Khaled said the Letter of Acceptance (SST) had been signed and the contract was expected to be finalised by mid-October.

He said MINDEF was considering options from South Korea, Turkiye and France to ensure delivery and installation could be completed within a reasonable timeframe.

“We are weighing all these options and will ensure that delivery and installation do not take too long, unlike the Norway contract, which took up to eight years,” he said.

Mohamed Khaled also said the absence of the Naval Strike Missile did not mean the LCS would be delivered without weapons systems.

“The LCS will still be equipped with several other systems, including surface-to-air and surface-to-sea missiles to deal with various threats, including submarines.

“It will also have an electronic warfare system to counter attacks and a Combat Management System that integrates these capabilities with the vessel’s radar and detection systems,” he said

LKAN No. 2/2026, released on Monday, found that the LCS project was 7.55 per cent behind schedule as of June 25, with delays ranging from 30 to 108 days.

-- BERNAMA