RMAF strengthens South China Sea surveillance with drones and new patrol aircraft

SUBANG, June 18 — The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) is progressively strengthening its Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to enhance monitoring of the country’s maritime zones, particularly in the South China Sea.

Chief of Air Force, General Tan Sri Muhamad Norazlan Aris, said the second phase of the initiative will involve procuring three additional ANKA Medium Altitude Long Endurance-Unmanned Aerial System (MALE-UAS) units.

He said the Ministry of Defence has agreed in principle to the procurement and is awaiting funding for this phase, which will also include Electronic Warfare (EW) and ISR suites.

“(With the) three existing units and an additional three (from phase two), our long-term target is to operate a total of nine (ANKA UAS) aircraft,” he told reporters at the RMAF’s 68th Anniversary Parade here today.

Muhamad Norazlan said the RMAF is scheduled to receive its first P-72M maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) from Italy next April, further strengthening air surveillance operations.

He said the MPA platforms have improved capabilities compared to the three existing CN-235 maritime surveillance aircraft (MSA), especially in operational range, integrated mission systems and monitoring effectiveness.

“Its (MPA) monitoring effectiveness is superior, and it will progressively enhance the RMAF’s capability in executing ISR mission sets,” he said.

He added that the responsibility for safeguarding the sovereignty of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea does not rest solely on the RMAF but is supported by joint operations with other national security agencies.

Muhamad Norazlan also said that the RMAF is in the final review stage of procuring a Medium-Range Air Defence (MERAD) system to complete the country’s multi-layered air defence network.

“The procurement of the MERAD system is critical to complete the country’s air defence umbrella. It acts as a protective shield that plugs the capability gap between short-range air defence (SHORAD) systems on the ground and the combat air patrol (CAP) radius of our fighter aircraft,” he said.

He added that the main factor in selecting the MERAD system is its ability to integrate with the RMAF’s modern Command and Control (C2) grid. — Bernama