No more excuses please on LCS project, says Khaled

Defence Minister Khaled Nordin criticised Lumut Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (Lunas), a state-owned shipyard, for the substantial delays in the delivery of the littoral combat ships (LCS) project. According to Nordin, the Defence Ministry, as the client for the LCS project, was affected by the prolonged delays. He expressed his expectation that Lunas would not offer further excuses or push back the completion of the project beyond the planned delivery date of April 2027.

The Minister conveyed his hope that the defence ministry would receive the vessels on time, stating, "If the new date is April 2027, we hope Lunas will not delay further or give any more excuses."

Nordin expressed confidence in the cooperation and commitment of the finance ministry, suggesting that the corrections would be made to ensure that the LCS vessels would be handed over to the Defence Ministry in April 2027. The audit report released by the Auditor-General stated that the LCS 1 might not be fully operational until December 2035 as it could be delivered without complete training and weapon systems.

The report also highlighted that the project was behind schedule by 7.55% across all five ships, with a delay ranging from 30 to 108 days. The LCS project, which had an initial cost of RM9 billion, has ballooned to RM11.22 billion due to delays and cost overruns, while the number of vessels to be delivered was reduced from six to five.