Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said this was verified by the RMN chief Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin today.

“The RMN has been closely monitoring the situation, and as the person in charge, I’m truly relieved when he (Ahmad Kamarulzaman) confirmed that the national waters are safe,” he told reporters in response to the report that 100 Chinese boats were said to have encroached into Malaysian waters in the area.

Hishammuddin was met at the testing of the StarStreak guided missile at the Tanjung Logok Surface-to-Air Shooting Range here today.

Present were his deputy, Mohd Johari Baharum, Army Chief Gen Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor, Royal Malaysian Air Force Chief General Roslan Saad and Ahmad Kamarulzaman.

On StarStreak, Hishammuddin said the asset was purchased to replace the StarBust guided missile system, which was obsolete and no longer produced.

StarStreak is a new low-level very short range air defence asset procured by the Malaysian Armed Forces.

It is manufactured by a European-based company and has a speed of 1,000 metres per second with an effective range of up to 7km.

The guided missile has several systems, including the mobile RAPIDRanger and RAPIDRover weapon systems, Next Generation Lightweight Multiple Launcher and related communication system.

– BERNAMA