KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 -- Malaysia will take delivery of its first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) as scheduled in December despite the vessel being delivered without its planned anti-ship missile system following the cancellation of its Naval Strike Missile (NSM) procurement, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said.

Speaking during a ministerial briefing in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, Khaled said the Royal Malaysian Navy's (RMN) long-delayed lead vessel would still be handed over on schedule, even without the surface-to-surface missile system originally intended for the class, as reported by Utusan Malaysia.

"In terms of the ship's delivery, even though we do not have a surface-to-surface missile system, the delivery schedule r...