2026 Launch Confirmed: Malaysia’s New Littoral Mission Ship Fleet to Strengthen Maritime Deterrence

Malaysia is set to significantly elevate its naval warfare capabilities with the upcoming launch of its second batch of Littoral Mission Ships (LMS), with the first vessel scheduled to be launched in April 2026, followed by subsequent launches in June and August of the same year.

The three new LMS Batch 2 vessels for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) are currently under construction at Istanbul Shipyard, Türkiye, and represent the cornerstone of Malaysia’s next-generation surface combatant fleet.

The announcement was made by Malaysian Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin via his official Facebook page following an inspection tour of the shipbuilding site in Istanbul, where he received briefings from Turkish defence conglomerate STM.

“At Istanbul Shipyard, I received a briefing on the construction progress of the three LMS Batch 2 vessels from STM’s leadership,” said Mohamed Khaled.

“Construction is progressing smoothly, with the first ship expected to be launched in April 2026, followed by the second in June and the third in August 2026,” he added.

The RMN’s new LMS Batch 2 ships are based on the proven ADA-class corvette design, previously built by STM for the Turkish Navy and later exported to Pakistan and Ukraine, where they have demonstrated operational resilience and modular combat capability.

Malaysia’s partnership with Türkiye on the LMS Batch 2 project marks a significant shift in its defence procurement strategy, signaling an increased reliance on emerging defence producers with proven indigenous capabilities.

This LMS acquisition is also tightly linked to an Industrial Collaboration Programme (ICP), which Defence Minister Khaled says will be finalized by year-end and is expected to yield major benefits for Malaysia’s domestic defence ecosystem through technology transfer and industrial participation.

“Türkiye has undergone a similar transformation before becoming a globally recognized defence producer,” Khaled stated.

“Through a phased implementation of ICPs, Türkiye successfully developed its local defence industry.”

“Malaysia has similar aspirations,” he added.

“May this strong relationship and strategic cooperation between Malaysia and Türkiye propel the local defence industry and simultaneously reinforce our national sovereignty.”

The LMS Batch 2 ships are being built to operate across the full spectrum of naval missions, including anti-surface warfare (ASuW), anti-air warfare (AAW), electronic warfare (EW), and asymmetric warfare (ASyW).

Equipped with state-of-the-art combat management systems and vertical launch platforms, these ships are poised to bring Malaysia’s naval combat capabilities into a new era of multi-role modularity.

Crucially, each LMS Batch 2 vessel will feature a 16-cell Vertical Launch System (VLS) configured to deploy the South Korean-developed K-SAAM (Korean Surface-to-Air Anti-Air Missile), known locally as “Haegung.”

K-SAAM is a short-range naval point-defence missile developed jointly by South Korea’s Agency for Defence Development (ADD) and defence prime LIG Nex1.

Designed to replace the U.S.-made RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM), the K-SAAM system provides close-in protection against incoming anti-ship missiles and aerial threats.

The missile system was initiated in 2011 and entered mass production in 2019 after passing live-fire tests against North Korean Kumsong anti-ship missile threats.

K-SAAM features dual-mode guidance comprising active radar homing and infrared seekers, with an engagement envelope reaching speeds of Mach 2 and a range of up to 20 kilometers.

Its key specifications include:

• Role: Point-defence against aircraft and sea-skimming anti-ship missiles

• Guidance: Active Radar Homing and Infrared Seeker

• Range: 20 km

• Platforms: South Korean Navy destroyers and frigates

• Comparable to: RIM-116 RAM (United States)

With this missile system, the RMN gains a capable and modern layer of air defence that significantly increases survivability against saturation attacks or swarm missile threats in littoral environments.

In addition to the K-SAAM, the LMS Batch 2 warships will be equipped with the ATMACA anti-ship cruise missile developed by Türkiye’s ROKETSAN, further boosting Malaysia’s surface strike capabilities.

ATMACA, meaning “hawk” in Turkish, has a range of 250 kilometers, surpassing that of the American-made Harpoon Block II (130 km) and France’s Exocet Block III (200 km).

The missile measures between 4.3 to 5.2 meters in length, weighs approximately 750 kg, and employs Inertial Navigation System (INS) and GPS guidance for long-range accuracy.

ATMACA is designed to operate in all-weather conditions, possesses a low radar cross-section, and is capable of autonomous target acquisition with 3D mission planning, in-flight target update, and abort capability via datalink.

The missile has been in development for over a decade and was publicly unveiled in 2019.

In 2023, the Turkish Ministry of Defence announced that it would replace more than 350 aging Harpoon missiles with ATMACA on 11 Turkish Navy warships by 2027, saving an estimated US$500 million (RM2.35 billion).

Reports suggest the unit cost of ATMACA is nearly 50% less than that of the Harpoon, delivering substantial cost-efficiency for partner navies like Malaysia.

The strategic inclusion of both K-SAAM and ATMACA in Malaysia’s naval inventory underscores the country’s growing emphasis on self-reliance, flexible deterrence, and regional power projection.

This also reflects broader regional defence trends as Southeast Asian states seek to modernize naval forces in response to increasing tension in the South China Sea and rising grey-zone maritime confrontations.

With intensifying power competition between the United States and China in maritime Southeast Asia, Malaysia’s LMS Batch 2 program represents a deliberate move to ensure the RMN can operate credibly in contested waters, protect sea lines of communication (SLOCs), and support national sovereignty missions.

The defence partnership with Türkiye not only brings high-end weapon systems into Malaysian hands, but also opens the door to deeper technology transfer, joint development, and industrial co-production—hallmarks of Türkiye’s rapid defence-industrial ascent.

The three LMS Batch 2 ships are the most modern surface combatants Malaysia has commissioned since the Second Generation Patrol Vessels (SGPV), and they symbolize a pivotal upgrade in naval firepower and operational flexibility.

As the clock ticks down toward their 2026 launch, the RMN’s future fleet is poised to make a defining statement about Malaysia’s maritime ambitions and the strategic value of non-Western defence alliances.