Defence Ministry to procure two aircraft to detect submarines in South China Sea

KUALA LUMPUR: The Defence Ministry is in the midst of procuring two Maritime Patrol Aircrafts (MPA) from Italy that have the ability to detect the presence of submarines in the South China Sea area, especially in the Sabah region.

Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said this is because the long-range radar (LRR) of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) at the Labuan Naval Air Base could not detect submarines and was only able to monitor the airspace which was now more focused towards the South China Sea which has been “busy” lately.

“We are also in the process of procurement, which has been approved by the National Security Council, to acquire another LRR that we will place in Pulau Layang-layang because the ones in Labuan cannot see that far.

“So, we need another radar to be placed in Pulau Layang-layang so that we can see beyond our EEZ (exclusive economic zone) area,” he said in reply to Datuk Seri Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz (PN-Tanah Merah) who wanted to know about the capability of the LRR at the Labuan Naval Air Base, at the Dewan Rakyat sitting on Monday (Oct 30).

Meanwhile, Mohamad said the Radar Coastal Surveillance System (CSS) has been installed at 13 locations covering the Kudat coast up to Tawau to monitor the east coast of Sabah.

“Currently, there are eight radars that have just been upgraded last Sept 16 involving the CSS 1206 radar. However, there are five AESA SPEXER 2000 CSS radars that have suffered damage and are not economical to repair.

“All the CSS AESA SPEXER 2000 radar equipment has been removed for disposal. The ministry has also identified the need to completely cover the gaps in the area by purchasing six (5 replacements and 1 addition) new gap filler radars,” he said.

The minister added that the total allocation for the acquisition of the six radars is RM57 million which will be obtained under the 13th Malaysia Plan (13 MP).- BK