Article Posted on : - Apr 26, 2012

Scorpene submarine. File photo

KUALA LUMPUR (BNS): The Malaysian Navy plans to acquire more submarines to boost the country's naval defence capability, its Navy Chief has said.

However, the new acquisitions will not be made in near future due to budget constraint, Navy Chief Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency on Thursday.

The Royal Malaysian Navy presently operates two French-built Scorpene submarines - KD Tunku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Razak - which were delivered to it in 2009 and 2010 respectively under a 2002 deal with France.

The country's plans to strengthen its naval force comes at a time of heightened tension in the Asian region over China's aggressive stance over the South China Sea which is also being claimed by Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei and Vietnam besides Malaysia.