Malaysia narrows search for anti-ship missiles to arm its delayed first littoral combat ship

Malaysia's Defence Ministry has narrowed down the countries that could supply a surface-to-surface missile system to replace Norway's Naval Strike Missile on the Royal Malaysian Navy's first Littoral Combat Ship, Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said on 11 October.

Speaking to reporters after a community farming event in Kota Tinggi, Johor, Khaled said negotiations with the shortlisted suppliers were still under way and that the purchase would not depend on the ministry's allocation in the 2027 budget. He said the government wanted to make sure the warship, known as LCS 1, would not have to wait too long before it was fully armed.

According to the minister, the ship already carries surface-to-air missiles, anti-submarine warfare equipment and an electronic warfare system able to jam incoming missiles, leaving the anti-ship missile as the only major weapon still missing. Until one is fitted, he said, the navy can rely on the air force to strike hostile surface vessels.

Why the missile is missing

Norway revoked the export licence for the Naval Strike Missile, ordered from Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace in 2018 under a contract worth about 145 million US dollars, days before the missiles were due to be delivered in March, The Star reported. Oslo cited tighter export controls that limit sensitive defence technology to NATO allies and its closest partners. Malaysia, which had paid about RM571.9 million under the contract, is seeking to recover the money, and the Cabinet suspended new defence purchases from Norway in July.

In parliament on 7 October, Khaled said the ministry was weighing anti-ship missiles from South Korea's LIG Nex1, Turkey's Roketsan and France's MBDA, and that any of them could be delivered within about three years. He did not say on 11 October which suppliers remained on the shortlist or when a contract might be signed.

Shipyard told to speed up

Khaled also said completing LCS 1 should not be tied to calls for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the long-delayed programme. He was responding to Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim, who urged a faster investigation after the Auditor-General's Report 2/2026 found the project 7.55 per cent behind schedule as of 25 June. The minister said the shipbuilder had been told to speed up work and avoid further delays, and that any probe should be left to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and other authorities.

Lumut Naval Shipyard, which is building the ship, has set April 2027 as the revised delivery date for LCS 1 under the first phase of the programme, after telling the ministry it could not guarantee delivery by December this year, Bernama reported. Khaled also pointed to court action already taken against a former navy chief who had served as managing director of Boustead Naval Shipyard in connection with the project.

Taken together, the minister's remarks show Malaysia treating the missing missile and the unfinished hull as two separate problems: one to be solved through a fresh foreign purchase outside the annual budget cycle, the other through pressure on the shipyard. No supplier, price or delivery date for the replacement missile was announced.