Malaysia Spent RM423.8 Million On Drones That Can Watch The South China Sea For 24 Hours — And Chose Not To Arm Them
The aircraft can fly for over 24 hours, monitor all-weather maritime activity, and transmit real-time intelligence — filling a critical gap in Malaysia’s ability to watch its own waters, particularly around the Luconia Shoals, where foreign vessels operate near Petronas gas fields inside Malaysia’s EEZ.
Malaysia has officially launched its first fleet of long-endurance surveillance drones, a move Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin described as giving the country “eyes and ears” over one of the world’s most contested stretches of water.
But in a pointed signal to its neighbours, Kuala Lumpur deliberately chose not to equip the aircraft with weapons.
The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) recently inducted three ANKA-S drones at Labuan Air Base in Sabah, acquired from Türkiye for RM423.8 million, including ground control stations and two years of personnel training.
But the enemy Malaysia is arming itself against isn’t a country; it’s a blind spot.
For years, the RMAF lacked the ability to maintain continuous, real-time surveillance over its own waters — particularly around the Luconia Shoals, a stretch of reef and shallow water just 100 kilometres off the coast of Sarawak, well within Malaysia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and home to some of the country’s most vital offshore oil and gas fields operated by Petronas.
Those waters are not empty, as foreign vessels — including coast guard ships and maritime militia boats — maintain a near-permanent rotating presence there, asserting claims that overlap with Malaysia’s own.
Every time a vessel approached a Malaysian drilling rig or shadowed an exploration ship, the RMAF had two options: scramble an expensive fighter jet, or know nothing.
Watching, Not Threatening
The ANKA-S changes that calculus entirely.
The aircraft can fly continuously for more than 24 hours at altitudes of up to 30,000 feet, conduct surveillance in all weather conditions, and transmit real-time intelligence — capabilities Malaysia previously lacked over the South China Sea.
Officials say the drones can identify and track vessel profiles, allowing the RMAF to deploy assets more efficiently to areas of concern without burning resources on unfocused patrols.
This aircraft is capable of carrying weapons, but we have chosen not to equip it with weapons as a signal that our posture is not to attack any country, but solely to protect our sovereignty.
A Watching Brief
That calibration extends to language — Malaysia has not named any specific country as the reason for this procurement, and the government has been careful to keep it that way.
Malaysia maintains active diplomatic and economic relationships with all major powers in the region, and those relationships, across the board, are ones that Kuala Lumpur values and intends to maintain.
At the same time, Chinese coast guard vessels have maintained a regular presence at the Luconia Shoals — well inside Malaysia’s EEZ, near active Petronas gas fields off Sarawak.
It is a situation both sides are aware of, and one Malaysia has consistently chosen to manage through dialogue rather than confrontation.
The drones are based at Labuan Air Base, strategically positioned near disputed maritime zones and key sea lanes.
The government is now considering a second phase that would add three more units, though the proposal has yet to be formally submitted.
If approved, it would give Malaysia, for the first time, something close to an unblinking eye over the waters it has long worked to protect.
