In addition to the fact
that the missile system constituted a
manifestation of growing israel
philippine defense collaboration that
has taken place under Duterte. The system
had also represented a milestone for the
pn as it meant that it was equipped with
its first ever anti-surface missile
capabilities. The missile system first arrived in
month and it was gradually incorporated
into the packs thereafter.
For instance in november a notable test
was held where three Max, all fitted with
the spike er missile system along with
an augusta westland AW-109 attack
helicopter participated in a
scenario-based capability demonstration
and live firing.Last week this aspect of philippine
military modernization was in the
headlines again with a new announcement
made related to the spike er missile
system and the max. A philippine navy official indicated
that three more backs would be equipped
with the spike er surface-to-surface
missiles next year. the launchers for the spike eu
surface-to-surface missiles will be
installed in early last 2020.
Philippine Navy spokesperson Henry Quinto said in a
phone interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA) Quinto did not disclose any more
specifics about how the installation
would be done. But he said that the installation would
be done in the philippines like in the
previous Max, suggesting that the process
would follow a series of tests as with
prior instances as well including a
demonstration exercise.
Assuming the installation happens as
scheduled there would then be a total of
six spike er armed platforms in the
philippine navy. This would come as the philippines
continues to acquire more backs as has
been made clear by philippine defense
officials previously as well. There are currently a total of 12 macs
in the PN and PN chief Robert Empodrad
had previously indicated that at least
12 more backs would be acquired within
the so-called third horizon of
philippine military modernization which
lasts from 2023 out to 2028 as the
philippines continues to develop its
capabilities in the coming years.
What does the new philippines defence
budget say about future military
modernisation under Duterte? a look at what the new proposed
allocations say about the country's
defence outlook for 2021 and beyond. Last week numbers were disclosed for the
philippines initial defense budget. While these numbers are still
preliminary they nonetheless warrant
analysis to get a sense of what they say
and do not say about the southeast asian
states defense outlook for 2021 and
beyond under philippine president Rodrigo Duterte. As i have noted before in these pages
though the philippine military has long
faced a range of internal and external
challenges including insurgencies
natural disasters and unresolved
territorial and sovereignty issues with
neighboring states. It has also suffered
from anemic and at at times a strategic
investment in past periods.
While the country has been trying to
make up for this through advancing a
phased armed forces modernization act
over the next few decades with three
horizons or phases initially out to 2028
the defense budget every year tends to
be scrutinized for continuity and change
with respect to that longer-term
trajectory.
Last week we saw the revelation of
philippine budget numbers sought by the
deterred administration from congress
which included those for the Department
of National Defense (DND) for the budget announced on august 21. The proposed defense budget for the
philippine military known as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is
188.6 billion pesos, 3.6 billion dollars
for 2020.
This initial amount constitutes a slight
3% increase compared to the amount for
2021. The composition of the defense budget
and DND budget more generally reflects
some structural realities in philippine
defense spending that are evident in
some other southeast asian countries as
well. For instance while the budget for the AFP constitutes an increase of the
overall budget of 258 billion pesos for
the DND which also administers other
institutions including veteran services
around a quarter of 69.7 billion pesos
went to pensions, a 24 increase from the
previous year despite ongoing efforts by
policymakers to control rising costs in
this area.
In addition within the defense budget
itself more specifically despite rising
maritime security challenges for the
philippines. Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana told congress when asked about
chinese infringements into philippine
waters that manila had very small
capability to react to these intrusions. The bulk of philippine defense spending
is still going to the army.
The service distribution proposed has
91.5 billion pesos for the philippine
army. Nearly half of the overall budget
with 29 billion pesos for the philippine
navy, 25.9 billion pesos for the
philippine air force and 36.8 billion
pesos for general headquarters. Most of
which is allocated for the AFP's
military modernization efforts. Each of the services did see minor
increases but for perspective and in
line with the priorities of the deterred
administration these numbers paled in
comparison to for instance the Philippine National Police (PNP) which saw
around a 30 increase in its current
budget with the focus on winning the
so-called war on drugs. That emphasis reflects more broadly the
deterred administration's greater
emphasis on more internal threats such
as terrorism, criminality and insurgency. Rather than external threats such as
china's maritime assertiveness.
To be
sure these numbers constitute proposed
allocations rather than finalized ones
and as is often the case for defense
budgets in the philippines the funding
will be supplemented by other sources as
well. In addition and more generally for all
the focus on top-line defense budget
numbers a more granular assessment of
philippine defense spending and military
modernization will have to take into
account specifics such as how this
affects particular line items in the
second horizon and third horizon of the
phased revised armed forces of the
philippines modernization program. Nonetheless as these numbers are
disclosed it will continue to be
important to assess what they say and
don't say about the southeast asian
state's future defense outlook.
