KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 28): The long-delayed littoral combat ships (LCS) project has suffered another setback, with delivery of the first vessel pushed back to December 2026 from the previously targeted August 2026.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the delay was largely due to late deliveries of equipment from original equipment manufacturers, as well as the need for rework involving piping and cabling installations.

The first LCS vessel, dubbed Maharaja Lela, has achieved 82.9% actual progress compared with a planned 96.52% as at Dec 25, 2025, he said.

Overall construction progress for the five-vessel project has reached 75.75%, lagging behind the planned 81.57%.

Following the delay, the commissioning of the second vessel has been revised to August 2027. The commissioning timelines for subsequent vessels remain unchanged, with LCS 3 scheduled for December 2027, LCS 4 for August 2028 and LCS 5 for April 2029, Mohamed Khaled told the Dewan Rakyat during the oral question-and-answer session on Wednesday.

Despite the delays, he said the first vessel has been successfully launched and is currently undergoing equipment installation and major system integration.

Sea trials at the shipyard level for LCS 1 began on Jan 20, 2026, with its first sea-going scheduled for Jan 28, 2026. The trials will test machinery systems, generators, air-conditioning and propulsion systems as part of initial seaworthiness assessments.

Full sea trials are expected to begin in early April 2026, he added.

Mohamed Khaled said the total contract value for the five-vessel LCS project stands at RM11.2 billion, with RM8.3 billion spent to date, representing about 74% of the total cost.

To ensure transparency and continuous oversight, he said the Defence Ministry has established several monitoring mechanisms, with regular participation from the Royal Malaysian Navy and contractor Lumut Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (Lunas), formerly known as Boustead Naval Shipyard.

Project monitoring meetings will now be held on a monthly basis, compared with at least twice a year previously, he said, adding that Lunas has committed to round-the-clock construction through a three-shift system to accelerate progress and meet delivery commitments.

The LCS project has been under scrutiny in recent years due to significant delays and cost overruns. Initially budgeted at RM6 billion, the project’s cost escalated to RM9.18 billion before eventually reaching RM11.22 billion. The first vessel was originally scheduled to be delivered seven years ago, in 2019.

The project's issues and the contractor's tight cashflow led the government to take the company over from Boustead group on Aug 18, 2023. Lunas is now a unit of Ocean Sunshine Bhd, a company owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated.

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