First LCS sea trial pushed to April, delivery delayed again - Khaled By Qistina Nadia Dzulqarnain

Guess Khaled is running cover for the "Sakau Kakis"

Malaysiakini : PARLIAMENT | The long-delayed littoral combat ship (LCS) project for the Royal Malaysian Navy has suffered yet another setback, with sea trials postponed to April - months later than previously scheduled.

Speaking in the Dewan Rakyat today, Defence Minister Khaled Nordin said that since the entire project has been delayed, the sea trial scheduled for October last year did not commence.

“I want to clarify that the sea trial is indeed delayed and will begin in April, while the delivery that was supposed to be in August has been delayed by four months to December.

“Ultimately, we as the customer want to ensure that the vessel is safe, complies with specifications, and achieves the level of operational readiness as expected,” the minister said in response to questions from Hisham Abdul Aziz (PN-Tanah Merah). In July last year, Khaled said the first LCS entered its setting to work phase in May and was slated for sea trial in December.

Behind on progress

Admitting that the ministry and the armed forces, particularly the navy, share widespread concerns about the LCS delays, Khaled today told Parliament that as of Dec 25 last year, the overall progress of the project is at 75.75 percent, instead of the projected 81.57 percent.

He noted that for LCS1, the progress stands at 82.90 percent, compared to the expected 96.52 percent. “This progress covers the construction of the ship’s structure, installation of major equipment, and integration of the ship’s systems.

“Although there are delays compared to the original schedule, the ministry has been informed by the Lumut Naval Shipyard that LCS1 has been successfully launched into the water and is in the phase of installation and integration of the ship’s main systems,” he added.

He also said that preparations are being actively carried out to enable a full sea trial to begin in early April, explaining that the vessel will embark on its first sea-going on Jan 28 after a sea testing phase began on Jan 20.

“The commissioning of LCS2 has been revised to August 2027. For the subsequent vessels, the commissioning of LCS3 remains in December 2027, LCS4 in August 2028, and LCS5 in April 2029,” the minister added.

BlueCougar1744 : Malaysia’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) programme was awarded in 2011 to Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS), later renamed Lumut Naval Shipyard (LUNAS). 

Since then, the project has spanned multiple governments and defence ministers, contributing to repeated delays. 

1. Contract Award • Year Awarded: 2011 • Awarded To: Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) under the Royal Malaysian Navy’s SGPV-LCS programme. 

• Contract Value: RM11.2 billion for 6 ships (later reduced to 5). 

2. GOVERNMENTS IN POWER SINCE LCS AWARD (2011–2026) Period Government Prime Minister 2011 – May 2018 Barisan Nasional (BN) Najib Razak 

May 2018 – Feb 2020 Pakatan Harapan (PH) Mahathir Mohamad 

Mar 2020 – Aug 2021 Perikatan Nasional (PN) Muhyiddin Yassin 

Aug 2021 – Nov 2022 BN–PN Hybrid (Keluarga Malaysia) 

Ismail Sabri Yaakob Nov 2022 – Present (2026) 

Pakatan Harapan–Unity Government Anwar Ibrahim 

This means the LCS project has passed through five different administrations. 

3. DEFENCE MINISTERS INVOLVED (2011–2026) Period Defence Minister Government 2011 – May 2013 Ahmad Zahid Hamidi BN 

May 2013 – May 2018 Hishammuddin Hussein BN 

May 2018 – Feb 2020 Mohamad Sabu PH 

Mar 2020 – Aug 2021 Ismail Sabri Yaakob PN 

Aug 2021 – Nov 2022 Hishammuddin Hussein BN–PN 

Dec 2022 – Present (2026) Mohamed Khaled Nordin Unity Govt Total Defence Ministers since contract award: 6

Emperor Nasi Goreng :LCS - Lucrative Corruption Scheme

Me : Guess Khaled is running cover for them without resolving the streamlining of pensions for Veterans who left the service before 2013.

Read it all here..........