AMID the vast expanse of territorial sea waters that it protects and the country’s claims of some parts of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) being aggressively challenged, primarily by China, the Philippine Navy (PN) is stepping up its modernization program, boosted by the arrival of its first brand-new frigate almost two weeks ago.
The berthing of the first of the two South Korean-made combat ships at Subic Bay Freeport where it awaits christening into military service as the BRP Jose Rizal in a couple of days further assured the sustained flying of the country’s tricolor in the territory that is being contested by Manila’s other neighbors.
Back then, when its keel was still being laid out in Ulsan, South Korea, by its contractor, the vessel had been projected to bear a wide array of weapons that included an Oto Melara 76-mm super rapid main gun and an Aselsan SMASH 30-mm remote-controlled secondary cannon.
The warship is also envisioned to pack a more devastating firepower that included surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles and torpedoes, thrusting it into the four dimensions of modern warfare—anti-air, anti-surface, anti-submarine and electronic warfare.
The vessel’s potentially lethal firepower became immediately discernible almost just as soon as it showed itself on the radar when it entered the country’s waters from the north, where it was accorded both the necessary and customary military rituals for new arriving Navy vessels.
Waving the flag in WPS
AS the frigate is designed for modern-day warfare waged and carried out at the click of a button, the warship is seen to maintain its presence and prove its might in the waters off the WPS for which, along with its mission, it was purposely built.
“We will show the [Philippine] flag… expose it in the 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and even in the 350 nautical miles extended continental shelf (ECS),” said Navy Flag Officer in Command Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo.
Bacordo said the PN will undertake and sustain its mission in the maritime waters that Beijing disputes, and this includes regular presence and patrol, maritime domain awareness and security, and rotational and resupply missions.
The frigate should lead and usher the stronger presence of the military in the area, on the heels of the recent completion of a beaching ramp on Pagasa Island, a project previously marred by delays.
The beaching ramp, whose purpose was to facilitate the transport and landing of necessary building materials and equipment, would pave the way for the repair of the Rancudo Airfield, an equally important but much delayed project.
It could also propel small development projects seen to uplift the economic lives of the less than 200 residents of the Municipality of Kalayaan, the seat of the Philippine government of the whole Pagasa Island.
“The completion of the beaching ramp means a big thing to us and to the people of Pagasa. It means that we can now bring in more supplies, especially in the repair of the runway because the next project will be the repair of the runway, dirt runway,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said earlier over CNN Philippines.
“We can now bring in materials, we can bring in heavy equipment. We can also bring in construction materials to improve the living quarters of our people there, and also help the people there. I think we could improve their lives better because we can bring in especially generators because they don’t have any electricity,” he added.
Lorenzana doused apprehensions that the construction of the ramp and the other impending projects would lead to the militarization of Pagasa, a tack that China took over the features that it has occupied and even built in the South China Sea by transforming them into military fortresses.
“In defending our islands there, we will not militarize our islands there. We will not bring in military equipment to defend it because I don’t think there is any threat of attack [on] Pagasa and [the] eight other islands. We have nine islands there in the Spratlys and all occupied by our troops,” he said.
Submarine program
WITH the arrival of the frigate and the awaited delivery of its sister ship within this year, the Navy’s gaze is now fixed on the development and full realization of its submarine project, which is only a notch lower from the requirement of a blue-water navy that only a few privileged countries possess.
The PN has set its focus on acquiring, ideally two, Scorpene-class submarines after going through the technical specifications and capabilities of the French-made underwater craft against other offers, including one coming from its closest competitor, the Russian-made Kilo-class submarine.
The acquisition of submarines is the pinnacle of the Navy’s capability upgrade program and has remained as the primary aspiration of sailors after the country notched its first brand-new frigate, courtesy of the South Korean Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The submarines are programmed to provide further muscle to the military, both in its capability and in its territorial defense operations, and put it in the league of leading militaries in the region.
According to Bacordo, the Navy’s submarine group was formed as early as 2017 and it has been staffed with officers and personnel, who, among others, have studied the whole aspect, even the nitty-gritty of submarine operations, including training, doctrines and deployment.
While submarine warfare maybe an entirely new dimension for the PN, its anti-submarine operations has not only been initialized by the arrival of the soon-to-be-known BRP Jose Rizal, but would even be completed, expectedly by November this year, when the armaments for its two AgustaWestland 159 helicopters are completely delivered.
Nicknamed the “Wildcat,” the two anti-submarine choppers, procured at a cost of P5.4 billion, would be armed with a variety of weapons, including the LIG Nex1 “Blue Shark” lightweight torpedoes that will serve as their primary weapon.
South Korea has already made an initial delivery of the torpedoes.
The frigates, the submarines and even the other big-ticket projects of the Navy, which include the procurement of two corvettes and Israeli-made smaller, but more agile attack gunboats known as the fast-attack interdiction craft, or FAIC, would help plant the Philippine flag anywhere in the country’s maritime waters.
Doctrinal shift
ARMING the Navy with modern platforms and ensuring the presence of even a flotilla of its warships in the territory that neighbors are disputing is just part of the overall effort of totally transforming the country’s sea force into a modern fighting organization. It needs a doctrinal shift, too.
According to Bacordo, transforming the PN into a modern fighting force also involves changing the mindset of its personnel for them to fully cope, steer and operate their new assets and even the other upcoming procurements of the organization.
In short, their minds, training, development, doctrines and even character should always be in step with the modernization of the Navy.
Bacordo noted that for the longest time, the PN had operated with a “legacy mindset,” meaning it had been used to merely improvising, fixing or servicing its available assets and equipment just for them to stay afloat and conduct their missions.
In fact, in the Navy jargon, the word legacy, ironically, is more appropriately used to describe the status, age and quality of most of the PN vessels.
With the stepped-up modernization, however, the word “legacy” may just as well spell something worth leaving behind, for future generations to enjoy: the confidence that they will always be protected in their homeland.
Image credits: Philippine Navy, AP/Bullit Marquez
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