KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 ― Malaysia would need to upgrade its military assets and change its radar system after exposing them to the world in a bid to find the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said.

Hishammuddin said the federal government would also need to review other technology - including sonar for submarines and ships ―  to beef up the country’s defence.

“Malaysia has made a very bold decision to inform about the country’s defence capability and now Datuk Seri Najib (prime minister) needs to find money for me to change our radar system.

“We are willing to do that, set aside the country’s interest to find MH370. What more does the people want from the Malaysian government and from ATM (Malaysian Armed Forces,” he told local daily Sinar Harian in an interview that was published today.

But he also said that the MH370 search had shown that Malaysia was not alone in needing an overhaul and upgrade of its defence capabilities.

“Not just Malaysia, many other countries in the world also need to reevaluate their assets strength and their military technology.

“If you noticed, the information that we detected came from commercial satellites and not military. So the armed forces globally have to reevaluate their capability. I believe all are doing this including the US. But my job (for now) is only to find where MH370 is,” he said.

Hishammuddin, who is also the Acting Transport Minister, also spoke of the challenges during the MH370 search, saying that he could not sleep especially when updates streamed in from countries that had different time zones from Malaysia.

Noting that updates came from various “timezones”, Hishammuddin said they would then be broken down into information that came through diplomatic channels, technical information including radar and satellite data, logistics in the search operation and real-time information.

He explained that the Cabinet including the prime minister has been on a “roller-coaster” ride where leads on the MH370 would continually arise and later be dismissed.

“The ‘real time’ information is the most painful ‘roller coaster’ for me.

“Before sleep, someone says there is an oil spill, but the next day after waking up, it’s said to be negative; just before sleep, someone said there is a lifevest, the next morning, negative,” he said.

Hishammuddin said the search for the missing plane has become more difficult as the days pass.

“It’s not easy because we still hope. The longer it is, the harder it is. Because the chance for the passengers or crew members to survive gets slimmer. And when we expect the MH370 has landed in an area, such as the Indian Ocean which is so deep, the efforts to search becomes more difficult,” he said.

The MH370 has been missing since March 8, with a multinational search for the plane and the 239 people in carried has been going on for over three weeks.