Welcome to the forum and we hope to see more substantial contributions from you (in terms of your personal comments on news sources), in future. By the way, there is a discussion thread on issues relating to the
South China Sea thoughts?.
B.S. Aquino III has demonstrated a consistent inability to understand defence matters (see my prior 2013 three part post at —
part 1,
part 2 and
part 3) and will not be able to effectively lead the Philippines with his continued incompetence in crisis management. More recently on
29 January 2015, 42 of the 44 members of the Philippine National Police’s Special Action Force (PNP SAF) arrived in Manila to a heroes' welcome in caskets. While the PNP SAF's raid on 25 January 2015 killed wanted terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir (also known as Marwan) and the death of these policemen also caused a firestorm in the Philippines, threatening the peace deal the government reached with Moro rebels. It has also shaken faith in the B.S. Aquino III administration, with opposition lawmakers calling for the president’s impeachment. These policemen were slain in what the government called a "misencounter" with Moro rebels in Mamasapano town, Maguindanao. As they say, the road to hell is often paved with good intentions.
From Reuters:
Japan may give planes to Manila for South China Sea patrols: sources:
"Japan wants to give planes to the Philippines that Manila could use for patrols in the South China Sea, sources said, a move that would deepen Tokyo's security ties with the Southeast Asian nation most at odds with Beijing over the disputed waterway.
Four sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Japan was looking to offer three Beechcraft TC-90 King Air planes that could be fitted with basic surface and air surveillance radar.
They said talks within the Japanese government were preliminary and would need to overcome legal hurdles. Japan had yet to formally propose the planes as an alternative to more sophisticated Lockheed Martin P3-C aircraft that Manila wants to track Chinese submarine activity, they added."
Beyond your news link there are three projects worthy of further discussion in terms of their implications for the current Philippine defense modernisation efforts.
One, the Combat Utility Helicopter (CUH) project, where 8 Bell 412EP helicopters were delivered from Canada. This will augment their government's ability to respond to HADR events, like typhoons. The Philippine state, regardless of the political will of its officials in the run up to or the immediate aftermath of a natural calamity, has traditionally suffered from a profound capacity deficit. As
Richard Javad Heydarian noted in November 2013:
"The other chief structural weakness of the Philippine state is its armed forces, especially the Philippine Air Force (PAF), which is yet to refurbish its small fleet of antiquated aircrafts. Lack of strategic foresight, overreliance on external partners, and chronic corruption has deprived the PAF and other branches of the armed forces of much-needed funds to modernize and enhance its capacities."
Two, the Surface Attack Aircraft/Lead-in Fighter Trainer (SAA/LIFT) acquisition project, the contract for 12 FA-50 was signed with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) — the details of which were posted by Sandhi Yudha. This will get them started on the road to getting back to the fighter business - which was the basis of starting this thread back in 2005. In time this will provide the air force with a fighter pilot training capability and more importantly, an operational light strike capability to deal with an insurgency and/or terrorist threats.
Three, the US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg confirmed that the Philippine Air Force will acquire 2 used C-130T Hercules aircraft and these pre-owned birds will arrive in the 1st quarter of 2016. in this respect, the US has provided targeted assistance to their ally, to improve their ability to move troops and materials more quickly, should the need arise to deal with humanitarian disasters, insurgency and/or terrorist threats - for details see my prior 2013 three part post on Crisis at Zamboanga City (see:
Philippines to Re-Focus on Territorial Defence in 2012). According to
David Kilcullen, the future environment will be urban, littoral, and connected. The data suggest that this is the environment in which future conflict will occur. This is not a futuristic prediction, but rather a projection of trends that are evident now, and an assessment of their effects on cities as they exist today. The future is hybrid and irregular conflict combining elements of crime, urban unrest, insurgency, terrorism, and state-sponsored asymmetric warfare — more Mumbai in India, Mogadishu in Somalia, Zamboanga in Philippines, and Tivoli Gardens in Jamaica. Terrorism activities in the Philippines have doubled in 2013. According to
GMA News, the Global Terrorism Index Report for 2014 showed, ranking the country the 9th most at risk of becoming less peaceful. The country's ranking went up from 10th place in 2012.
In addition, B.S. Aquino III confirmed that 30 projects for the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) were signed.These includes items under Horizon 1 (2013-2017) phase of the Revised AFP Modernization Program (RAFPMP) under Republic Act 10349, and some of these were projects under the AFP Modernization Program (AFPMP) covered by Republic Act 7898. However, presidential elections are coming and it is necessary to speed-up the release of budget to avoid these becoming mid-night projects that the next administration may not honour. There is a Philippine centric blog with a longer and more detailed discussion on this topic,
here.
Note: Can't post links yet, otherwise I'd link to this article.
[Mod Edit: As Bonza has noted in this thread, please refrain from simply copy-pasting entire news articles and turning threads into news ribbons. We expect to see personal input to your posts. Accordingly, 1st warning issued for this attempt at converting this discussion thread into a news ribbon. No reply to the Mod Warnings are necessary.
This forum is moderated and new members must read the Forum Rules before posting. We are aware that, as new members, you cannot post links. Over time, new members will come to appreciate the rationale for the Forum Rules. New members should also note that there are no 'this vs that' (rule number 3) platform discussions allowed because this format of discussion appeals to the less informed and one-liner comments are against forum rules. Kindly note that any comment made must be at least 2 to 3 lines in length.] 
