Three countries have been shortlisted to supply a surface-to-surface guided missile system for the Royal Malaysian Navy’s (TLDM) Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said.
He said the Defence Ministry was in the final stages of evaluating the systems, with several issues still needing to be resolved before the government makes a decision.
“We are at the final stage. We have shortlisted three surface-to-surface missiles from three countries,” he told reporters after launching the Armed Forces Cyber Team Nucleus at the TLDM base here today.
Khaled did not disclose the three countries shortlisted.
Malaysia had in July halted all new defence equipment procurement from Norway after the country revoked the export licence for the Naval Strike Missile (NSM), which had been planned for the LCS.
Meanwhile, Khaled said any proposal for Malaysia to acquire India’s BrahMos air-to-surface missile system would first be referred to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (TUDM) for assessment.
He said the assessment would consider factors including system integration, upgrades to existing TUDM assets, the Sukhoi fighter aircraft, and Malaysia’s defence doctrine.
The BrahMos system has a range of about 300 to 400 kilometres, compared with existing systems operated by Malaysia with a range of no more than 100 kilometres, he said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said during a visit to New Delhi last week that Malaysia was exploring and holding preliminary discussions on acquiring the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile system from India.
