WITHIN the week, the mainstream media reported about the Department of National Defense’s purchases of big-ticket military assets for the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Air Force.
First, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the government has closed a deal with BrahMos Aerospace of India to purchase an onshore anti-ship missile system for the Navy.
BrahMos, a joint venture between India and Russia, developed this supersonic and top-of-the-line cruise missile and the government has allocated $375 million (PHP 18.75 B) for this purchase.
Lorenzana said the contract involves three batteries, training for operators and maintainers as well as logistics support. It was reported that President Duterte has been seeking to acquire missile systems for the military under a modernization program called “Second Horizon.”
Earlier, the defense secretary also announced that the first of the 32 S-70i Black Hawks from a Polish firm owned by Lockheed Martin of the United States will begin to arrive next year.
‘Perhaps the onslaught of the recent typhoon, along with the eruption of Taal volcano and the need to defend our western shores fronting the South China Sea, including our exclusive economic zone, have instilled in
the minds of many Filipinos that
defense and disaster response gaps should be adequately addressed.’
The DND chief correctly observed that the government’s need for more modern aircraft is not only for internal security and territorial defense, but also for disaster response and humanitarian assistance. This was most evident during the recent typhoon Odette rampage in the Visayas, Mindanao and Palawan, leveling a huge swathe of agricultural, tourism, and urban areas. In the case of far-flung towns in Palawan such as Linapacan, Taytay and Cagayancillo in Sulu Sea, only a few of the Air Force’s Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawks and their pilots and crew gave a little Christmas cheer and survival hopes to hungry residents who were victims of the typhoon by delivering sacks of rice and other needed supplies.
The delivery of 120 sacks of rice, 60 sacks of assorted goods and 300 family food packs to Cagayancillo involved 290 nautical miles of maritime area from Puerto Princesa City to the said town, thereby testing the capability of the new choppers.
It is interesting to note that many Filipinos have realized the importance of the continuing modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, both in military assets, training, and capability as a fighting force. We noticed this because these DND purchases met scarce or even zero criticism, even from the rabidly anti-Duterte trolls.
Perhaps the onslaught of the recent typhoon, along with the eruption of Taal volcano and the need to defend our western shores fronting the South China Sea, including our exclusive economic zone, have instilled in the minds of many Filipinos that defense and disaster response gaps should be adequately addressed.
