Radar surveillance constitutes a critical component of modern air-defence systems, enabling states to detect, identify, track and respond to aerial activities. This capability is particularly important for Malaysia due to its geographical separation, extensive maritime approaches, large airspace and increasing exposure to foreign military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unidentified aerial activities. Primary Surveillance Radar (PSR) and Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) perform complementary functions. PSR independently detects airborne objects through reflected electromagnetic signals without target cooperation. SSR relies on aircraft transponders to provide identification and other flight information. This distinction is significant for national air defence because non-cooperative targets may not provide information required by SSR. This study examines the effectiveness of PSR and SSR within Malaysia’s air-defence mechanism through qualitative documentary and case study analysis of international standards, Malaysian aviation policies, surveillance infrastructure, parliamentary records, official defence documents and selected airspace incidents. The findings indicate that Malaysia possesses a credible and increasingly modern surveillance foundation comprising PSR, SSR, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and dedicated military radar capabilities. However, effectiveness remains constrained by uneven geographical coverage, equipment availability, low-altitude surveillance challenges, dependence on cooperative systems and fragmented civil-military surveillance functions. The study argues that Malaysia’s challenge extends beyond radar acquisition to the incomplete integration of sensors, surveillance data, institutional responsibilities, and decision-making processes. A layered national air-surveillance architecture integrating PSR, SSR, ADS-B, long-range military radar and complementary sensors within a common operational picture is therefore essential to strengthen situational awareness, response time, and the protection of national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Abdullah, A. I. (2016). Primary surveillance radar (PSR) and secondary surveillance radar (SSR) of Martello S743D detection optimization through automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) adaptation [Master’s thesis, Universiti Teknologi MARA]. UiTM Institutional Repository.
Barton, D. K., & Leonov, S. A. (Eds.). (1998). Radar technology encyclopedia. Artech House.
Bernama, (2023). Radar pertahanan udara jarak jauh di Bintulu untuk pengawalan sempadan. Bernama article
Bernama. (2021). RMAF detects Chinese aircraft flying close to national airspace. Bernama. Bernama article
Bowen, G. A. (2009). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27–40. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027
Bowes, R. C. (1982). Improvements to secondary radar for air traffic control. The Journal of Navigation, 35(2), 193–204. https://doi.org/10.1017/S037346330002989X
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Buszynski, L. (2013). The South China Sea: Oil, maritime claims, and U.S. - China strategic rivalry. Routledge.
Choi, J.-H., Kang, K.-B., Sun, S., Lee, J.-S., Cho, B.-L., & Kim, K.-T. (2019). Efficient detection of small unmanned aerial vehicles in cluttered environment. The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science, 30(5), 389–398. https://doi.org/10.5515/KJKIEES.2019.30.5.389
Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia. (2021). CAD 1101—Air traffic management: Chapter 8—ATS surveillance services.
Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia. (2024). Malaysia aeronautical information publication (AIP). CAAM.
Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia. (2024). Malaysia aeronautical information publication (AIP). CAAM Aeronautical Information Services.
Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia. (2025a). Aeronautical Information Publication Malaysia: ATS surveillance services and procedures.
Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia. (2025b). National Air Navigation Plan (NANP).
Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia. (2026a). Aeronautical Information Publication Malaysia: Communication and navigation services.
Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia. (2026b). Aeronautical Information Publication Malaysia: Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) OUT service in oceanic airspace of Kuala Lumpur FIR.
Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia. (2026c). Installation of four Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast systems for the Kota Kinabalu FIR.
Conti, M., Dardari, D., Di Benedetto, M. G., & others. (2013). Civil air traffic surveillance with passive radar for anti-terrorism. Proceedings of the International Radar Conference.
Endsley, M. R. (1995). Toward a theory of situation awareness in dynamic systems. Human Factors, 37(1), 32–64. https://doi.org/10.1518/001872095779049543
Floreano, D., & Wood, R. J. (2015). Science, technology and the future of small autonomous drones. Nature, 521, 460–466. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14542
Grewal, M. S., Weill, L. R., & Andrews, A. P. (2020). Global navigation satellite systems, inertial navigation, and integration (4th ed.). Wiley.
Hall, D. L., & Llinas, J. (1997). An introduction to multisensor data fusion. Proceedings of the IEEE, 85(1), 6–23. https://doi.org/10.1109/5.554205
International Civil Aviation Organization. (2007). Guidance material on surveillance technology comparison. ICAO.
International Civil Aviation Organization. (2018). Manual of secondary surveillance radar (SSR) systems (Doc 9684). ICAO.
International Civil Aviation Organization. (2018). Procedures for air navigation services—Air traffic management (PANS-ATM), Doc 4444. ICAO.
International Civil Aviation Organization. (2025). Procedures for air navigation services—Air traffic management (PANS-ATM) (Doc 4444).
International Civil Aviation Organization. (2026). Annex 10—Aeronautical telecommunications: Volume IV—Surveillance radar and collision avoidance systems (6th ed.). ICAO.
Klein, G. (1998). Sources of power: How people make decisions. MIT Press.
Leonardi, M., & Gerardi, F. (2020). Aircraft Mode S transponder fingerprinting for intrusion detection. Aerospace, 7(3), 30. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace7030030
Mahafza, B. R. (2013). Radar systems analysis and design using MATLAB (2nd ed.). CRC Press.
Ministry of Defence Malaysia. (2019). Defence White Paper. Government of Malaysia.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia. (2021, June 1). Ministry of Foreign Affairs will issue a diplomatic protest and summon the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China. Government of Malaysia.
Morgan, P. M. (2003). Deterrence now. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511491573
Parliament of Malaysia. (2023). Dewan Rakyat parliamentary Hansard: Coastal Surveillance System radar. Government of Malaysia.
Patel, J. S., Fioranelli, F., & Anderson, D. (2018). Review of radar classification and RCS characterisation techniques for small UAVs or drones. IET Radar, Sonar & Navigation, 12(9), 911–919. https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-rsn.2018.0020
Richards, M. A. (2014). Fundamentals of radar signal processing (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Roberts, G. G. (1961). Secondary surveillance radar and airborne transponder system. The Aeronautical Journal, 65(606), 407–411. https://doi.org/10.1017/S036839310007468X
Royal Malaysian Air Force. (2021). Statement concerning the detection of 16 People’s Liberation Army Air Force aircraft near Malaysian airspace. Government of Malaysia.
Schäfer, M., Strohmeier, M., Lenders, V., & Martinovic, I. (2024). ESIT—A digital twin of air surveillance infrastructure. e+i Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00502-024-01214-z
Skolnik, M. I. (2008). Radar handbook (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Storey, I. (2022). The South China Sea dispute: Navigating diplomatic and strategic tensions. ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute.
Trim, R. M. (1995). Radar transponders and radar target enhancers. The Journal of Navigation, 48(3), 427–434.
Waltz, E., & Llinas, J. (1990). Multisensor data fusion. Artech House.
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Yoseph Rasiman, Y., Ketty, Y., Muchaddats, M., Kurniawan, & Tsania, T. D. (2025). Primary surveillance radar (PSR). Jurnal TNI Angkatan Udara, 4(3). https://doi.org/10.62828/jpb.v4i3.167
Yoseph Rasiman, Y., Ketty, Y., Muchaddats, M., Kurniawan, & Tsania, T. D. (2025). Secondary surveillance radar (SSR). Jurnal TNI Angkatan Udara, 4(3). https://doi.org/10.62828/jpb.v4i3.169
Zaghloul, A., et al. (2024). An efficient gradient descent approach to separate a mixture of secondary surveillance radar replies based on disjoint component analysis. IET Radar, Sonar & Navigation.
Taib, K. N., Yusof, S., & Saman, M. M. (2026). The Effectiveness of Primary and Secondary Radar in the Malaysian Air Defence Mechanism. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 16(10), 26-47.
Copyright: © 2026 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
