The Maharajalela-class littoral combat ship (LCS) 1 is to be handed over to the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) in August 2026, said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
The construction of the country’s first LCS met the planned milestone, he said, adding, the ship was successfully launched into the water on May 23 after receiving approval from the design team, quality control authorities, and the RMN.
“Now, it’s about installing equipment and tools on the ship. Some have already been installed, some have yet to be installed. After that, in December, harbour trials will be conducted, and after all equipment is installed, sea trials will be conducted,” he told a press conference today after inspecting the construction of the ship at the Lumut Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd.
Khaled added that the construction of the remaining four LCS was progressing well in accordance with established plans.
Since the tabling of a parliamentary committee’s report on Malaysia’s littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal, the Malaysian government had declassified two reports pertaining to the RM9.13 billion (US$2.04 billion) procurement, two years ago.
According to the Malaysian parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) the project to construct six ships was awarded by the Ministry of Defence to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd through direct negotiation. Boustead Naval Shipyard is a company under the Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Group.
The government paid RM6.08 billion or 66.65 per cent of the cost so far but not even one of the ships has been delivered. According to the timeline, five ships should have been delivered to the government by August 2022. The ships were not delivered then.
