KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 5): Malaysia’s littoral combat ship project faces another delay as its contractor proposed to push the first vessel’s handover to April 2027.

The proposed date is nearly eight months later than the contractual handover date of Aug 26, 2026, and about four months behind the government’s latest target of December this year.

The Royal Malaysian Navy submitted the contractor’s proposed revised date to the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) on Aug 11, according to the auditor general’s latest report.

The auditor general warned that even the December target was at risk as critical construction, system integration, testing and commissioning work remained incomplete. 

As at June 25, LCS 1 was 85.47% complete compared with 99.35% planned, putting it 108 days behind schedule.

The delay extends across the entire five-vessel programme. Overall physical progress stood at 78.99%, versus 86.54% planned, leaving the project 7.55 percentage points behind schedule.

The auditor general estimated that this represented about RM847 million worth of delayed work.

All five vessels were behind schedule, with delays ranging from 30 to 108 days.

The biggest lag was in trial and commissioning, which was only 1.41% complete compared with 31.64% planned. Construction progress stood at 62.48% against 79.66% planned, while equipment was at 87.30% versus 91.59%.

Separately, the audit warned that LCS 1 may not achieve its full intended capability until December 2035 because several supporting weapons and equipment procurements are running far beyond the vessel’s handover timeline.

The biggest concern is the surface-to-surface missile (SSM) system, which may only be ready by December 2035 if a new procurement is needed.

The report said the current supply was disrupted after the export licence was suspended. A new procurement could take about three years, followed by another six years for delivery.

As a result, the auditor general said a fully capable LCS 1 is expected only by December 2035, after all supporting procurements are completed — more than five years after the main LCS contract ends in April 2030.

If the vessel is handed over earlier, it could be delivered without a complete weapons system and training, the report said.

Mindef has said it could consider accepting LCS 1 conditionally, although the contractor would remain responsible for completing outstanding weapons installation and integration work.

Meanwhile, cumulative payments under the main LCS contract had reached RM8.56 billion, or 76.22% of its RM11.23 billion value, as at June 25.

The first LCS, KD Maharaja Lela, had already been pushed back to December 2026 from August, with Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin previously attributing the delay mainly to late equipment deliveries and rework involving piping and cabling.

Mindef had also said it was prepared to take delivery of the first vessel without its Naval Strike Missile system after Norway revoked the relevant export approval, while the government looked for an alternative solution.

The LCS programme was originally awarded for six ships at RM9.13 billion, but was later restructured to five vessels while the contract value rose to RM11.23 billion. The government subsequently took control of the shipbuilder as part of efforts to revive the long-delayed project.

Read also:
Cover Story: LCS1 faces more than a missile dilemma ahead of December delivery
Littoral combat ships project delayed again, first vessel now due December 2026 — defence minister

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