Military and Mindef offer conflicting dates for LCS delivery
The Malaysian Armed Forces and the Defence Ministry are offering conflicting dates on the delivery of the littoral combat ships (LCS) to the navy.
During an interview with several media organisations on Tuesday, Armed Forces chief Affendi Buang said five of the six LCS were scheduled for delivery in Jan 2026, Sept 2026, May 2027, Jan 2028 and Sept 2028.
However, several major news organisations have...
(Editor's note: Inserted paragraph 13 upon receiving comments from the defence minister's office. Paragraph 4 was amended to reflect the latest development)
The Malaysian Armed Forces and Defence Ministry have cited different timelines for the delivery of the littoral combat ships (LCS) to the navy.
During an interview with several media organisations on Tuesday, Armed Forces chief Affendi Buang said five of the six LCS were scheduled for delivery in January 2026, September 2026, May 2027, January 2028, and September 2028.
However, several major news organisations have withdrawn the online versions of their report on Affendi's interview.
Bernama TV's report citing the same was still accessible on its YouTube page when this article was originally published today. It was removed soon after.
Malaysiakini is attempting to contact Affendi's office for comments on the matter.
The timeline offered by Affendi was different from that stated by Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein last month.
On Aug 6, the defence minister told the Dewan Negara that the first LCS would be delivered "in two years".
When quizzed by reporters on Aug 17, Hishammuddin did not reveal a timeline for the other five LCS.
According to Bernama, Hishammuddin told reporters yesterday that the timeline has not changed but was short on specifics.
"We are holding on to what we have announced earlier. We are all on the same page with the armed forces chief, navy chief, Mindef, Boustead, Finance Ministry, all the way to the cabinet.
"We have the timeline from the beginning, firstly to assure the people that the LCS project must go on.
"Secondly, we will not protect anybody who is guilty if there is abuse and misappropriation," he had told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
A senior officer from the defence minister's office told Malaysiakini that the armed forces' timeline for the LCS stated on Tuesday had been "retracted".
Malaysiakini is attempting to independently verify this with the armed forces.
"The timeline remains the same as what the minister told the Dewan Negara," said the officer.
Major sore point
The delivery of the LCS has become a major sore point for the defence minister.
In 2017, he tweeted a "welcome" message for the first LCS, which as of the publishing of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report in August this year, was only 44 percent complete.
The PAC had investigated the LCS project, subsequently raising questions on the circumstances behind the award of the contract, revealing that all ships were way behind schedule and raising doubts about the ability of the contractor to deliver.
The PAC had also recommended that the MACC take prosecutorial action based on the committee’s report, the governance, procurement and finance investigation committee's report, and the report by a private forensic audit firm on the project.
KINIGUIDE | A littoral dive into the navy's RM9b LCS scandal
Admiral tells PAC of fighting 'losing battle' with contractor over LCS
