A US-based national security think-tank’s assessment of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) modernization is probably a case of wishful thinking.
According to the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), for the Philippines to have a credible military defense capability, it needs 48 F-16 jetfighters, four to six mini submarines, more well-armed frigates and corvette-size combat vessels and minesweepers.
“This level of capability would far exceed current Philippine planning and finances and it would be in Washington’s interest to make it easier for Manila to acquire excess US fighters, frigates and other weapons system and encourage other countries such as Japan and South Korea to help modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines, it said in an article ‘Defending the Philippines: Military modernization and the challenges ahead.’”
But the AFP has been struggling in its modernization program for over two decades, leaving its Air Force without a single jetfighter interceptor since 2005 and the Navy with old warships, some of them World War II vintage.
Most, if not all, of its aircraft and ships were provided by the United States when the latter was still maintaining its air and naval bases in the Philippines under the RP-US Military Bases Agreement (MBA) until its expiration in 1991 when the Philippine Senate did not extend the MBA.
The F-8s and F-5s were decommissioned in 1988 and 2005, respectively, leaving the Air Force with no jetfighters to guard the Philippine airspace.
As a consequence, Philippine “air defense capability is practically zero,” Col. Raul del Rosario, commander of the Air Defense Wing based in Pampanga said.
“Our Air Force is referred to as a Helicopter Air Force (and) we have only one operating radar with very limited capability,” Del Rosario noted, adding “what’s disheartening is that, with this token capability, our nation is faced with an enormous security challenges.”
Del Rosario stressed the need to restructure the Air Force “to optimize it for territorial defense role.”
“We need to develop facilities, for the equipment that will be acquired such as radar sites, forward operating bases, hangars, communication net, maintenance and command and control facilities,” he added.
Furthermore, the 1995 AFP modernization program was not implemented due to lack of funds.
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin went to Washington last month for discussions with their counterparts concerning each other’s needs to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Last year, the PN bought a Hamilton-class frigate from the US worth P400 million and another was acquired last month.
Meanwhile, more than 40 aircraft of the Air Force, most of which are already “aging,” will participate in today’s fly-by highlighting its 65th founding anniversary in Lipa City, Batangas.
PAF spokesman Col. Miguel Ernesto Okol said the reliving of the traditional fly-by, which was last seen 15 years ago, during such celebration only indicates that the command, which is notoriously tagged as “all air, no force,” is now regaining its strength.
Among the assets featured in the fly-by are an S211, nine T41-Ds, 16 brand new SF-260FHs, two OV-10 Broncos, three Sokol combat utility helicopters (CUH), four UH-1H, four MD-520MG, three F-27 and a C-130. All in all, there are 43 aircraft involved in the fly-by.
Of the aircraft participating in the fly-by, only the Sokol CUH is new in the PAF fleet having been acquired earlier this year. The PAF, under its capability upgrade program, has contracted eight brand-new Sokol CUHs from Swidnik of Poland, with four already delivered.
“We are the Air Force, we should be flying,” said Okol.
“This also signals that we are regaining our strength and will soon be a potent force in our defense and security operations,” he added.
Okol noted President Aquino’s support to the capability upgrade and modernization of the AFP, particularly the Air Force which is programmed to acquire “brand new and reliable air assets to meet its operational requirements” over the next five years.
Recommended for PAF acquisition are 10 brand new attack helicopters, 21 UH-1H helicopters, lead-in fighter trainers, long-range patrol aircraft, air defense radar, eight light lift and three medium airlift aircraft and a special mission aircraft, among others.
            Mario J. Mallari and PNA