Malaysia favours Türkiye for LCS missile replacement
Further negotiations will examine compatibility and integration, while a dispute over Norway's Naval Strike Missile procurement moves to another resolution stage.
Malaysia has chosen Türkiye as its preferred supplier country for a replacement missile for the Royal Malaysian Navy's (RMN) Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) project, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said. Negotiations with the Turkish side are needed before the arrangement can be finalised.
Speaking to reporters on Nov 12, Mohamed Khaled said the government assessed proposals from Türkiye, France and Italy, weighing delivery schedules, prices and upfront costs. Assurances received on compatibility with the ships and integration into their systems would undergo further examination during negotiations.
The minister said the Turkish missile was the same type as the one already ordered for the LCS project, enabling delivery as early as 2028. He put the surface-to-surface missile's operational range at 240 kilometres.
Malaysia would probably need to pay only for launcher installation and systems integration, he said, because some of the expense was already covered by the LCS contract. The government would therefore not have to fund the full cost of buying new missiles.
The alternative is being pursued after procurement of Norway's Naval Strike Missile (NSM) stalled. Mohamed Khaled said Norway had not granted the necessary licence, preventing delivery despite Malaysia having paid.
With initial talks deadlocked, he said the next contractual step was to form a dispute resolution committee involving both parties. Malaysia would pursue arbitration if that failed, with Kuala Lumpur permitted as the venue under the contract. The search for replacement missiles would continue without waiting for the dispute's conclusion.
