UniMAP Leads AI-based National Defence Project With RM800,000 Research Grant

KANGAR, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) researchers are leading a project to develop an AI-based smart radar for national defence needs, funded by an RM800,000 Long-Term Research Grant Scheme (LRGS) from the Ministry of Higher Education's Research Fund for 2025.

UniMAP vice-chancellor, Datuk Prof Ts Dr Zaliman Sauli, said this sub-project under the broader LRGS programme is being led by Assoc Prof Ir Ts Dr Muzammil Jusoh from UniMAP's Faculty of Electronic Engineering & Technology in collaboration with Assoc Prof Ts Dr Huda A Majid from Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) and Assoc Prof Ts Dr Zaid Omar from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).

Zaliman explained that the grant was secured for the high-impact "Conceptual Framework for Short-Range AESA Radar in Malaysian Operational Environment: Antenna Arrays, Propagation Dynamics and Intelligent Target Processing" project.

"It focuses on developing a short-range, AI-powered Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar system for national defence, which encompasses three main components.

"The components are the development of an AESA antenna design, modelling radar wave propagation in a tropical environment, and AI-based target recognition," he said in a statement today.

The grant was presented during the 2025 Academia Day and Academia Month celebration, officiated by the Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir, at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia  (USIM) in Negeri Sembilan recently. 

In the same statement, Muzammil explained that the research framework comprises three main projects, with the first focusing on development techniques for a short-range AESA antenna design, while the second involves the empirical modelling of radar propagation in tropical maritime conditions

The third project is dedicated to the AI-based detection and classification of objects using AESA radar.

"These three projects are expected to yield six high-indexed publications (WOS/ISI & Scopus), train six postgraduate students, and generate six intellectual property rights through innovations in antenna design, radar simulation, and AI algorithms," he said.

He added that the project is supported by the Royal Malaysian Navy and the Science & Technology Research Institute for Defence (STRIDE), in partnership with Mindmatics Sdn Bhd, to ensure the research is highly applicable to national radar development and the local defence industry.

-- BERNAMA