By: Joseph Seabra
As stated, before the Philippines
is a nation that has pushed for the overall growth under the leadership of its
president Rodrigo Duterte and his proposed plans to expand and modernize the Philippines.
Along with the country experiencing infrastructural growth and technological
growth the country has also started to experience a growth the development of
its military. The Filipino military currently has an estimated 305,000 enlisted
individuals within its military with 125,000 of those individuals being active
duty (2019). The number of vehicles that the country possesses is quite a small
number when compared to other Southeastern Asian countries with the country
only having an estimated 171 aircraft, 18 combat ready tanks, and 119 naval
assets (2019). With the country having such a small military arsenal there is
little doubt that with the Philippines proposed Military Modernization plan
there will be a large amount of new technology transplanted within the
country’s military.
(Butlangan, 2019)
According to the website
DefenseNews the Horizon 2 Modernization plan proposed by Rodrigo Dutertes
administration will last for a total of 5 years with the plan beginning in 2018
and lasting till 2020 (Yeo, 2018). The extended time frame of this plan
indicates that the country does not want to expand suddenly and receive
outdated military technology that it already had within its arsenals. The plan
has had a total of $5.6 billion USD with the division of the funds being “$890
million for the Army, $1.44 billion for the Navy and $2.61 billion for the Air
Force, with the rest of the budget going to the military’s General Headquarters and
the government’s arsenal.”
(Yeo, 2018). With most of the funds from the Horizon 2 Modernization plans fund
being directed towards the Filipino Air Force it can be assumed that the Philippines’
military will be focusing on technology center on aircraft. According to
Business Inquirer in September the Filipino Airforce Invested in 15 Airbus
A321neo SR under the current military modernization plan (Camus, 2019). The
Airbus A321neo SR is a short-range aircraft that allows for the transport of
troops and supplies to different areas easier, and with this acquisition the
Philippines will now have boosted the total number of aircraft to an estimated
186. According to Business Inquirer this aircraft has a “roomier cabin, flies
quieter and burns less fuel than its predecessor, the A321 Classic” (Camus,
2019).
It will be interesting to see how
the Philippines continues to spend the remainder of the funds from the Horizon
2 Modernization plan, with the increase in production and development of new
military technology. Though with the span of this modernization plan being over
the course of five years it raises the question as to whether the Philippines
will continues to have outdated military technology if they purchase different
technologies over the long course of this plan.
References
(2019).
Philippines Military Strength. In globalfirepower.com. Retrieved November 24,
2019, from https://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.asp?country_id=philippines
Butlangan, N. (2019). AFP. In CBC
News. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/explosion-southern-philippines-military-base-1.5194239
Camus, R. (2019). New Planes to
boost the PAL regional fleet. In Business Inquirer. Retrieved November 24, 2019,
from https://business.inquirer.net/278121/new-planes-to-boost-pal-regional-fleet
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