THE Philippine Army is focusing on enhancing its capability in operating drones, which it said are game-changers in territorial defense operations.
In a press briefing at the Army headquarters at Fort Bonifacio last Tuesday, Army chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete said they are drawing lessons from the dragging conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
Ukraine and Russia have utilized drones, rigged with bombs, in carrying out attacks against each other.
“We are looking at lessons right now, what’s happening in the Ukraine-Russian war. We have so many things to learn about drone operations,” said Nafarrete.
Nafarrete said the other major branches of the Armed Forces, referring to the Air Force and the Navy, already have their own drones.
“We (Army) have our own also and (we are) integrating it with the force structure that we are looking at for territorial defense. But we cannot elaborate some more because it’s really something that we are also focusing (on). Don’t worry, we have a similar effort (on drone warfare),” said Nafarrete.
He said the drones in the inventory of the Army are being used at present in the conduct of ISR or intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations.
The Army is still leading the campaign against internal security threats like the New People’s Army and terrorist groups. The military is aiming to defeat the groups at the soonest possible time so it can fully transition to territorial defense operations.
“Our future force structure is really moving towards that. We need to have a drone (warfare) capability. In the territorial domain, the drone is one of the game-changing assets,” said Nafarrete.
“If you look at the Russian and Ukrainian conflict, drone (warfare) had a very big part in the conflict. I think that’s the way ahead. We need to strengthen our drone capability. We have to acquire those technologies,” said Nafarrete.
Nafarrete said the Army is looking at acquiring locally-made drones through the government’s Self-Reliant Defense Posture program.
“The spares should not be coming from, you know who, so that our (drone capability) will not be compromised,” said Nafarrete.
He was apparently referring to China, which is perceived as a threat to the country’s sovereignty.
