KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 13 Coastal Surveillance System (CSS) radars have been installed in 13 locations in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone), the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the locations spanned from Kudat in the North ESSZone to Tawau in the South ESSZone.
Mohamad, however, said five out of the 13 CSS radars to monitor the coastal areas of the East Coast of Sabah were damaged and not economically viable for repair.
"The five CSS AESA SPEXER 2000 radars were decommissioned and the ministry has identified the need to fully cover the gap in the area by acquiring six new radar gap fillers; (five replacements and one additional unit).
"The total allocation for the acquisition of these six radar systems is RM57 million, which will be obtained in the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP)," he said in response to Datuk Seri Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz (PN-Tanah Merah).
Ikmal Hisham asked about the status of the repair and replacement of coastal radar systems in the Sabah region to ensure the early warning system for sea intrusion activities in the ESSZone is always functioning well and at an optimum level.
Mohamad said eight radars were recently upgraded, which was completed on Sept 16, involving CSS 1206 radar.
"The purpose of this upgrade project is to enhance radar detection capabilities and 'Command and Control' capabilities.
"All of these radar systems are fully operational."
To a supplementary question from Ikmal Hisham on the long-range surveillance radar in Labuan, and whether it is fully operational and able to give early warning for any intrusion, Mohamad said:
"It is functioning well, with focus on the South China Sea, which suddenly became very busy."
Meanwhile, Mohamad said the ministry is in the process of acquiring another long-range radar that will be placed in the Layang-Layang area in Sabah.
"We need a long-range radar in this area to be able to reach the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) maritime area," he said.