Malaysia Picks Türkiye as Preferred Missile Supplier for Navy Ships After Norway Licence Dispute

Malaysia has selected Türkiye as its preferred source of replacement missiles for the Royal Malaysian Navy’s littoral combat ships, Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said on November 12. The choice follows a dispute over an export licence for the Norwegian Naval Strike Missiles originally intended for the vessels, according to Malaysiakini and The Edge Malaysia.

The choice is not a finalised purchase. Khaled said Malaysia would negotiate with the Turkish supplier and examine assurances that its missiles can be integrated with the ships’ systems. He said the government had compared proposals from Türkiye, France and Italy on price, delivery schedules and upfront costs, the two outlets reported.

The littoral combat ships are a Malaysian naval programme, and the replacement must work with vessels built around the original missile plan. Earlier in the search, Khaled told Bernama that the Defence Ministry had shortlisted surface-to-surface missile systems from three countries. He told Bernama that officials were assessing whether an alternative would require substantial changes to ships already built.

Khaled said the Turkish missile is in the same surface-to-surface category as the planned Norwegian weapon and could be supplied as early as 2028. He gave its operational range as 240 kilometres, according to Malaysiakini and The Edge Malaysia. Compatibility and the delivery date remain subject to the proposed arrangement.

On the Norwegian purchase, Khaled said Malaysia had paid for missiles it could not receive because the required export licence had not been issued. He said initial talks had reached a deadlock and that the contract calls for a joint dispute-resolution committee before Malaysia can proceed to arbitration. Bernama previously reported that Malaysia had decided in July to halt new defence-equipment purchases from Norway following the export-licence decision.