Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are characterized by their self‐configuring and decentralized nature in wireless networking. In MANETs, energy‐constrained devices face increased packet loss due to malicious nodes, leading to higher delays and energy consumption. Addressing this issue is crucial to improve network performance and efficiency. Therefore, to overcome these issues, a multiobjective secure trust‐aware redundant array shifting encryption adaptive sparrow search optimization (MORS‐ASO) was introduced in this manuscript for secure data transmission in MANETs. This encryption enhances security by distributing data across multiple nodes and dynamically shifting it, making it more resistant to attacks and unauthorized access. The hybrid integrated cat swarm optimization is the combination of integrated optimization algorithm and cat swarm optimization. Adaptive sparrow search optimization is applied to carry out the data transmission securely. The proposed method helps to offer security against various routing disruption attacks, genuine and hurtful attack. The MORS‐ASO achieves a packet delivery ratio of 94.3%, an end‐to‐end delay of 3.362 s, a throughput of 2952.7548 bps, and a jitter of 1.245 ms. Also, it consumes 32 joules of energy, supports a network lifetime of 3500 s, and has a packet loss ratio of 19%.