Malaysian unmanned aircraft regulations state that unmanned aircrafts must meet or exceed the safety regulations of manned aircrafts. Operators must receive authorization from the Department of Civil Aviation before flying an UAV.
Military
In February 2014 the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency announced that it would use drones to spot smugglers and other maritime incursions in Malaysian waters. In March of this year, Swedish defence company Saab was awarded a contract to provide Electronic Payload Systems to the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The Malay armed forces operate various unmanned aircraft. These drones are produced by Composite Technology Research Malaysia:
- The Aludra MK-1is used for surveillance and reconnaissance. It has a wingspan of 20 ft and a flight endurance of 3 hours. It can transmit real-time video and can fly along pre-programmed flight paths.
- The SR-08is used for frontline surveillance and reconnaissance. It has a wingspan of 2 ft and a flight endurance of 1 hour 40 minutes. It can handle a payload of video, photo, and infrared cameras. This past March an SR-10 model was announced by Composite Technology Research Malaysia.
- The Intisar 100is a remotely piloted helicopter system marketed as a low-cost solution to aerial surveillance. This aircraft has a flight endurance of 1 hour and can hover while tracking targets.
- The Intisar 300is a remotely piloted helicopter used in reconnaissance missions and has a combined flight duration of 1.5 hours: 90 minutes with a gas engine and 40 minutes with its electric engine.
- In May 2015 police in the province of Bukit Aman announced the possibility of using drones for surveillance of public disorderly conduct violations. Meanwhile, Muhammad V, the Sultan of Kaletan province, has taken an interest in the use of unmanned aircraft for police surveillance.
Civilian/Commercial/Conservation
- The UAV Siswa Challengeis a student-competition held annually by Dassault Aviation and the Ministry of Education. The challenge calls for students to build their own hexa-copters. The competition aims to support human capital investment in Malaysia’s aerospace industries.
- In October 2014,scientists in Borneo started using drones to help research how malaria spreads through certain village populations.
- In response to a 9 Magnitude earthquake in June, the Malaysian Emergency Response System deployed dronesfor aerial surveillance and disaster relief activities.
- Similar to Indonesia, April 30th 2015 Cargill Inc announced thatit would begin using UAVs to survey Malaysian palm oil plantations in order to fight illegal logging.