Malaysia’s Lumut Naval Shipyard announced April 29 that the Royal Malaysian Navy’s first Littoral Combat Ship, LCS 1 Maharaja Lela, had begun sea trials the day before.
The shipyard released photographs of LCS 1 underway in waters off of Pangkor Island near the shipyard, alongside a brief statement:
LCS 1 conducted her first sea trial yesterday as part of her performance validation and readiness assessment programme prior to sea acceptance trials with the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN).
The trial marks an important step in evaluating her systems and operational capabilities under real sea conditions.
The frigate had previously performed its “first sea going” in January, sailing under its own power for the first time in the same area during a test of its propulsion systems, electricity generation, and air conditioning systems.
A Lumut Naval Shipyard representative that spoke with Naval News at the 2026 Defence Services Asia exhibition said the shipyard was contractually required to begin sea trials by the end of April. Under a revised schedule disclosed by Malaysian Defence Minister Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled bin Nordin in January following delays on LCS 1, LCS 1’s sea trials were to start in early April, ahead of the current delivery date scheduled for December this year.
VL MICA for Malaysian LCS
Also announced at Defence Services Asia was the signing of a letter of intent between MBDA and the Malaysian defense ministry for the purchase of 29 VL MICA surface to air missiles for the Littoral Combat Ships, valued at RM504.5 million (approximately US$127.6 million).
While not identified by name in the ministry’s official press release, representatives of MBDA and the Royal Malaysian Navy at the exhibition confirmed to Naval News that the missiles were VL MICAs, but declined to provide further details. A Royal Malaysian Navy representative described the VL MICA as a “proven” choice, while an MBDA representative noted the VL MICA selection had been made a significant time ago.
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:
