Kuala lumpur: All three Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) Littoral Mission Ship Batch 2 (LMSB2) are expected to be fully commissioned by the end of 2027. Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the construction of the vessels in Turkiye is progressing smoothly and remains on schedule as set when the contract was signed in 2024.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the Defence Minister stated that the ships are expected to be delivered to the navy by late 2027, with the first vessel set for commissioning in October, followed by the second in November, and the third in December. The progress of the project was discussed during a press conference after the 2026 Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) Education Excellence Award (AKP) presentation ceremony at Wisma Perwira ATM.

Mohamed Khaled further shared that the second vessel in the Batch 2 series has been successfully launched at the Istanbul Shipyard in Turkiye, named 'Raja Laut' after the late 19th-century Selangor nobleman. The naming and launching ceremony was attended by the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, and Tengku Permaisuri Selangor, Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin. This follows the launch of the first vessel, 'Tunku Laksamana Abdul Jalil,' in May.

The LMSB2 programme is a Government-to-Government (G-to-G) cooperation project between Malaysia and Turkiye aimed at strengthening maritime sovereignty. In another development, Mohamed Khaled mentioned the RM1 billion claim against a Norwegian defence firm, stating that the ministry has received a request from the company to discuss the matter. The ministry will continue with the claim following established procedures.

Norway had previously revoked the export licence for Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) and related launcher systems to Malaysia, citing national security concerns. The procurement contract for the NSM was signed between the RMN and Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace AS (KDA) in April 2018, valued at 124 million euros (RM571.9 million), intended for the navy's new Littoral Combat Ships (LCS).