KOTA TINGGI: Malaysia will use part of its existing order of Turkish-made Atmaca anti-ship missiles for the Navy’s Littoral Mission Ships (LMS) to equip its Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), says Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
The Defence Minister said the government had already placed an order for the missile systems for the LMS vessels and would only need to arrange for their installation on the LCS, which were originally intended to be equipped with Norwegian-made Naval Strike Missiles (NSM).
He said the missiles ordered for the LMS were expected to be ready in 2028, allowing some of them to be allocated for the LCS fleet.
“I have already ordered the Atmaca missiles for the LMS. So now, I just need to take them and install them there, with some of them being used for the LCS.
“The missiles ordered for the LMS will be ready in 2028, so we can take some of them and install them on the other vessels,” he added.
Mohamed Khaled was speaking to reporters after launching the Malaysia Defence Intelligence Organisation (MDIO) Adopted School programme at SK Panchor here on Saturday (Nov 14).
He said the additional costs would mainly involve system integration and launchers, rather than purchasing an entirely new batch of missiles.
Mohamed Khaled added that Malaysia intended to use the money recovered from Norway to pay for the replacement missiles.
“The costs involved are for integration and launchers. When Norway returns our money, we will use it to pay for the new missiles,” he said.
On the dispute with Norway over the original NSM procurement, Mohamed Khaled said Malaysia would continue pursuing negotiations but acknowledged that recovering the money could take considerable time.
He said the government could consider arbitration if negotiations failed, although the process might eventually lead to court proceedings if the parties did not comply with an arbitration decision.
“If we go for arbitration, there are many parties that do not comply with arbitration decisions. We may then have to go to court, which could take two, three, four or even five years. I do not know,” he said.
Malaysia had previously selected Turkiye as its preferred supplier of an alternative missile system for the LCS after evaluating proposals from Turkiye, France and Italy.
Mohamed Khaled had said the selection was based on several factors, including price, delivery schedules and initial costs, with further negotiations to be held with the Turkish side before the procurement was finalised.
The original NSM system, supplied by Norway’s Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace, could not be delivered after the Norwegian government failed to issue the necessary export licence despite Malaysia having made payments under the procurement agreement.
