Mindef plans to procure UAV, drones to strengthen border surveillance - Ikmal Hisham

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 84 mini unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) units will be included in the new procurement proposal to further strengthen Ops Benteng intelligence, monitoring and surveillance next year, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz said in addition, the government also planned to procure 33 multi-purpose drone units, with the cost of the two assets estimated at RM2.72 million.

He added, the government also intends to procure operational equipment assets, including four night vision binoculars for the Royal Malaysian Navy, 18 outdoor action cameras (Royal Malaysian Air Force), and 63 ground tactical cameras as well as 30 walkie-talkies (Malaysian Army).

"Insya Allah, with the continued success of Ops Benteng, for 2022, the government will allocate a certain amount of the budget to acquire equipment to enable the Malaysian Armed Forces to beef up the country's border control," he said during the question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was replying to a question from Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman (PAS-Sik) who wanted to know the proposed asset acquisition to tighten the country's border control next year.

In reply to Ahmad Tarmizi's original question on the effectiveness of Ops Benteng, Ikmal Hisham said as of Oct 31, a total of 16,229 illegal immigrants were detained while another 3,666 were deported after attempting to enter the country.

Since its launch on May 12 last year, Ops Benteng has succeeded in curbing smuggling activities, involving seizures worth RM668.47 million.

-- BERNAMA