US HANDS OVER THREE UPGRADED CN-235S MARITIME SURVEILLANCE AIRCRAFT TO MALAYSIA

KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 (Bernama) --  The United States (US) on Wednesday handed over three  CN-235s aircraft, which have been converted into maritime surveillance aircraft (MSA), to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF).

The handover marked the completion of the conversion programme.

The US Embassy in Malaysia in a statement said US Ambassador to Malaysia Edgard D. Kagan and RMAF Chief Tan Sri Mohd Asghar Khan Goriman Khan attended the ceremony at the Subang Air Force Base. 

“With all three aircraft converted and incorporated into Malaysia’s overall maritime domain awareness architecture, we know that Malaysia is better able to maintain vigilant watch over activities within its Exclusive Economic Zones, and better postured to secure the maritime environment,” Kagan said.

The statement said the conversion programme, which began in 2018 and totalled approximately US$60 million under the Maritime Security Initiative, served as the first major US security grant programme in Malaysia.

According to the embassy, the CN-235s are now enhanced with maritime surveillance radars, electro-optical infrared turrets, beyond line-of-sight communications and roll-on/roll-off system operator stations. 

The aircraft are attached to Squadron 1 at Kuching Airbase in Sarawak, it added.

The statement confirmed that the US provided more than US$240 million in total security assistance from 2019 to 2023.

The US-Malaysia security cooperation includes eleven bilateral and five multilateral defence exercises –the most Malaysia has with any country – which enhance Malaysian defence readiness, strengthen multinational relationships, and demonstrate US resolve to support a free and open Indo-Pacific.

-- BERNAMA