The Royal Malaysian Navy’s first Littoral Combat Ship, LCS 1 Maharaja Lela, performed its “first sea going” on 28 January, with the frigate sailing under its own power for the first time after a week of pierside testing.
During this test, Maharaja Lela departed Lumut Naval Shipyard with guidance from tugboats, sailing without the tugboats in the nearby waters off Pangkor Island before returning to the shipyard. Representatives of the Royal Malaysian Navy were present for the test, as was Lumut Naval Shipyard chief executive officer Ir. Azhar Jumaat.
The test followed Malaysian Defense Minister Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled bin Nordin’s announcement earlier that day of the “first sea going” during a parliament briefing. According to the minister, the “first sea going” will test Maharaja Lela’s propulsion systems, electricity generation, and air conditioning systems, ensuring that it can sail at sea for the start of official sea trials in early April.
Mohamed Khaled told lawmakers that the planned delivery date of Maharaja Lela has been delayed by four months to December 2026. LCS 2 Raja Muda Nala’s delivery date has been delayed to August 2027 as well, while delivery dates for the remaining three ships remain unchanged. He said Maharaja Lela was currently 82.9 percent complete as of December 25 2025, instead of 96.52 percent according to the original schedule.
The minister said the delays were caused by delayed deliveries from original equipment manufacturers, as well as inspection and replacement of wiring and piping following a design audit by Naval Group. He added that to compensate for the delays, Lumut Naval Shipyard now has three shifts working on LCS 1.
According to Mohamed Khaled, RM 8.3 billion has now been spent on the program, 74% of the RM11.2 billion budgeted under the contract that restarted work on the program in 2023. He added that all payments are now made based on actual progress made on the ships, with new oversight structures featuring greater involvement from the Royal Malaysian Navy.
KD Maharaja Lela (2501) main specifications
Displacement: 3,100 tons full load
Length: 111 m (364 ft 2 in)
Beam: 16 m (52 ft 6 in)
Draught: 3.85 m (12 ft 8 in)
Propulsion: CODAD
Speed: 28 knots (52 km/h)
Range: 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement: 138 sailors
Weapon systems:
- Main gun: 1 × Bofors 57 mm gun (in stealth cupola)
- Secondary gun: 2 × MSI DS30M 30 mm cannon
- SAM: N/A
- ASM: 8 × Naval Strike Missile SSM
- Torpedo: 2 × triple SEA torpedo launcher
