KUALA LUMPUR: The government does not expect a quick resolution to the dispute over the cancelled Naval Strike Missile (NSM) supply for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) programme, says Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin (pic).
He said the process of resolving the issue and recovering the money paid for the missiles was expected to be lengthy, particularly due to the lack of cooperation from the Norwegian government.
“We have received no cooperation whatsoever from the Norwegian government, even though it was the party that caused this problem by refusing to grant the export licence.
“We do not see this matter being resolved immediately,” he said at a press conference held in conjunction with the Siber Siaga programme at the Cyber Digital Services, Defence and Security Asia Exhibition and Conference (CyberDSA) 2026 here on Monday (Oct 5).
Khaled said Malaysia was therefore left to pursue its claim directly against the company involved, adding that it could use various grounds in response to the claim.
He said completion of the LCS should not depend on the outcome of Malaysia’s claim against the company.
“We believe that completing the LCS is something that needs to be done and should not depend on the outcome of our claim against the company,” he said.
Khaled said he would bring the matter to the government for consideration, including the allocation needed to replace the missiles that could not be supplied.
He said several factors would have to be considered in selecting replacement missiles, including their delivery timeline and whether they could be integrated with the LCS’ Combat Management System, as the vessels were nearing completion.
“We need to understand the complexity of the issue we are facing. There is no full cooperation from the company involved,” he said.
Previously, the Auditor-General’s Report Series 2/2026 found that the LCS project was 7.55% behind schedule as of June 25, putting the physical handover of LCS 1 at risk.
The report said the NSM Launcher System remained outstanding following the permanent cancellation of its export permit by the Norwegian government.
In its response to the report, the Defence Ministry said LCS 1 would not be able to operate at full capability without the system installed, although a conditional handover could be considered while the contractor remained contractually obligated to install and integrate it.
Auditor-General Datuk Seri Wan Suraya Wan Mohd Radzi said the delay of between 30 and 108 days could affect the earliest scheduled handover on Aug 26, or the revised target of Dec 26.
She said LCS 1 would not achieve full capability if handed over before its training and weapons systems were completed, while delays to the first ship would also affect the handover schedules for LCS 2 to LCS 5.
