Malaysia’s RM11 Billion LCS Warship Project Hits 72 Pct Completion: First Sea Trials Locked for 2025
The LCS project—based on the Gowind-class corvette platform designed by France’s Naval Group—is central to the Royal Malaysian Navy’s Force Structure 15-to-5 Transformation Plan, which aims to streamline the fleet into five core ship classes to maximize operational effectiveness and sustainability.
(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — Malaysia’s beleaguered Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) programme, long regarded as the nation’s most controversial defence acquisition, has reached a key turning point with 72.43 per cent overall progress recorded across all five warships, marking a pivotal milestone in a project once feared beyond recovery.
The country’s Ministry of Defence revealed that the second vessel in the series, designated LCS 2, was successfully downslipped—lowered into the water—on May 8, and is now undergoing outfitting and integration works, with its Setting to Work (STW) phase expected to commence by September 2025.
This follows the downslip of LCS 1 on May 23, 2024, which subsequently entered its STW phase earlier this May, putting it on track for its critical first sea trials in December 2025—a long-awaited development that will finally see the ship navigate under its own power and test its integrated combat systems.
These milestones offer the strongest indication yet that Malaysia’s RM11 billion naval flagship programme, plagued by procurement scandals, political fallout, and technical delays, is finally regaining forward momentum after over a decade of stagnation.
According to the ministry, construction of LCS 3, LCS 4, and LCS 5 continues according to schedule, with LCS 3 targeted for delivery in 2027, followed by each remaining vessel at eight-month intervals, culminating in final delivery of LCS 5 by 2029.
“Close monitoring by the ministry, together with stakeholders including the Finance Ministry, Economy Ministry, Prime Minister’s Department Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) and the Attorney-General’s Chambers, will continue,” the statement said.
“This is to ensure proactive intervention measures can be taken by LUNAS, thereby ensuring smooth project implementation,” it added, referring to the high-level oversight mechanism established to prevent further slippage.
The LCS project—based on the Gowind-class corvette platform designed by France’s Naval Group—is central to the Royal Malaysian Navy’s Force Structure 15-to-5 Transformation Plan, which aims to streamline the fleet into five core ship classes to maximize operational effectiveness and sustainability.
Once completed, each LCS will be equipped with cutting-edge sensors, naval gun systems, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities, surface-to-surface missiles, and an integrated combat management system, forming the backbone of Malaysia’s future surface fleet.
The urgency to operationalise the LCS fleet has intensified in light of Malaysia’s growing maritime security challenges in the South China Sea, where Chinese grey-zone operations and persistent naval assertiveness continue to test ASEAN littoral states’ sovereignty and deterrent capabilities.
In March this year, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin disclosed that the project experienced a minor delay of 1.68 per cent, citing bottlenecks related to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) components as the primary cause.
Despite this shortfall, the government expressed satisfaction with the revised construction pace, especially after years of public scrutiny and multiple investigations that uncovered procurement mismanagement, cost overruns, and delivery delays.
Originally awarded in 2011 to Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS), the LCS project was to deliver its first vessel by 2019, but the programme stalled after none of the ships were completed as scheduled, drawing severe criticism from both the Public Accounts Committee and the Auditor-General.
In response to the outcry, the government restructured the programme in 2022 under tighter governance, enhanced fiscal transparency, and a clear roadmap for completion, overseen by the newly formed LUNAS committee and supported by quarterly reporting protocols.
The revival of the LCS programme is not merely a matter of restoring domestic defence credibility, but a geo-strategic imperative as Malaysia seeks to modernise its naval capabilities in response to an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific maritime domain.
With first sea trials set for December 2025 and a credible delivery timetable in place, the LCS programme is now being viewed not as a lost cause but as a potential keystone in the Royal Malaysian Navy’s future force projection across the region’s critical sea lines of communication.
While major challenges remain—from managing international procurement dependencies to ensuring quality control during integration phases—Malaysia’s ability to push forward with this complex naval programme may well determine its maritime relevance in the years to come.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has expressed strong confidence that the Royal Malaysian Navy’s (RMN) Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) project will be completed according to the revised schedule, reaffirming the government’s commitment to upholding integrity and good governance throughout its implementation.
Speaking during his official visit to Perak this morning, Anwar described the LCS programme as a milestone achievement for Malaysia’s defence-industrial base, noting that it is being developed entirely through the skills, capabilities, and expertise of local talent—without reliance on foreign shipbuilders for final assembly.
“This project is a historic achievement, built fully from scratch by local expertise,” said the Prime Minister in a statement published on his official Facebook page.
“I have strong confidence that with the firm commitment of the RMN and the shipbuilder, Lumut Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (LUNAS), the project can be completed successfully, placing the sovereignty of our national waters at an excellent and exemplary level,” he added.
