PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian government is not incurring any cost in the acquisition of 12 surveillance drones worth almost RM80mil from the United States, says the Defence Ministry. The Ministry said the cost was borne by the United States as part of its Maritime Security Initiative (MSI) programme. The MSI programme provides assistance in terms of capability (assets) and capacity (training) to countries including Malaysia to help increase the Maritime Domain Awareness in South-East Asia. It also said that apart from the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM), other enforcement agencies would also benefit under the MSI programme to enhance maritime surveillance and sharing of information among enforcement agencies. It was reported that the purchasing of the drones worth US$19mil (RM79.03mil) from the United States was a move seen as part of President Donald Trump's effort to boost its allies' intelligence-gathering capabilities amid the rising tension with China.

Source: The Star June 07, 2019 09:22 UTC