Philippines shores up defenses with increased military spending

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — As the Philippines beefs up its defensive posture, pivoting from internal security to territorial defense, the government has lined up a series of acquisitions in line with the new plans.

The Philippine Marine Corps requires roughly 60 armored vehicles, but it is getting the ball rolling with seven vehicles from South Korea’s Kovico, assumed to be the company’s KMPV platform, via a notice of award issued Jan. 15.

Funding comes from the 2025 national budget that President Ferdinand Marcos signed into law Dec. 30, 2024. It included 271.9 billion pesos (US$4.65 billion) for the Department of National Defense (DND), a 12.3% hike compared to a year earlier.

A total of 138.2 billion pesos goes to the Army, 51.6 billion pesos to the Air Force and 51 billion to the Navy in 2025.

As a downside, modernization allocations for the armed forces received guaranteed funding of just 35 billion pesos, down on the 50 billion the military was expecting. Another 40 billion pesos could be tapped from standby appropriations, but only if the government receives excess revenues.

Marcos had vowed in December that he “remains committed to transforming our armed forces into a world-class force.”

He promised, “We’ll modernize your equipment, enhance your training programs, ensure that you’re equipped to face challenges not just of today, but also of the future.”

Last year, the DND announced its Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept, which aims to defend Philippine territory and its exclusive economic zone.

Crucial to that will be additional combat aircraft. Therefore, expected soon is a deal for 12 FA-50 Block 20 light fighters from Korea Aerospace Industries, effectively doubling the Philippine FA-50 fleet.

This deal will equip a second squadron. However, no decision has yet been made on new multirole fighters, where Saab’s Gripen and Lockheed Martin’s F-16 are contenders.

The Air Force has just contracted for six additional A-29B Super Tucano light attack aircraft too. A notice of award, worth $112.8 million, was issued to Embraer on Dec. 16, 2024, and the company said “deliveries are scheduled to take place in 2026.”

Shedding more light on ongoing procurements, the DND published a procurement monitoring report last month. It listed, for example, a new Bell 412EPX aeromedical helicopter for the Army.

Meanwhile, deliveries of S-70i Black Hawk helicopters continue. Sixteen helicopters were procured in 2019, and a deal for 32 extras was lodged in 2022, of which 10 have been delivered to date.

The Philippine Navy is awaiting two HDC-3100 corvettes from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea, due this year and next. The same shipbuilder is also constructing six offshore patrol vessels for the Philippines.

Also underway is a cyber systems acquisition project worth $613 million to improve cyber defenses and systems integration. As part of China’s “gray zone” tactics against the Philippines, state-backed hacking is reportedly commonplace against government agencies.

Gordon Arthur is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. After a 20-year stint working in Hong Kong, he now resides in New Zealand. He has attended military exercises and defense exhibitions in about 20 countries around the Asia-Pacific region.

新西兰基督城——随着菲律宾加强防御态势，从内部安全转向领土防御，政府已根据新计划安排了一系列采购。

菲律宾海军陆战队大约需要 60 辆装甲车，但目前已通过 1 月 15 日发布的授标通知书，从韩国 Kovico 公司采购了 7 辆装甲车，据推测这些车辆是该公司的 KMPV 平台。

资金来自费迪南德·马科斯总统于 2024 年 12 月 30 日签署生效的 2025 年国家预算。其中包括国防部 (DND) 的 2719 亿比索（46.5 亿美元），比上一年增长了 12.3%。

2025 年，陆军将获得 1382 亿比索的拨款，空军将获得 516 亿比索的拨款，海军将获得 510 亿比索的拨款。

不利的一面是，军方现代化拨款仅获得350亿比索的保障资金，低于军方预期的500亿比索。另外400亿比索可以从备用拨款中挪用，但这只有在政府获得超额财政收入的情况下才能实现。

马科斯曾在12月誓言，他“仍然致力于将我们的武装部队打造成为世界一流部队”。

他承诺：“我们将更新你们的设备，改进你们的训练计划，确保你们不仅能够应对当今的挑战，而且能够应对未来的挑战。”

去年，菲律宾国防部宣布了其《综合群岛防御概念》，旨在保卫菲律宾领土及其专属经济区。

实现这一目标的关键在于获得更多作战飞机。因此，预计不久将与韩国航空航天工业公司达成协议，向菲律宾采购12架FA-50 Block 20轻型战斗机，这将使菲律宾的FA-50机队规模翻一番。

这项交易将为第二个中队配备装备。然而，关于新型多用途战斗机的采购方案尚未做出决定，萨博的“鹰狮”和洛克希德·马丁的F-16都是候选机型。

美国空军刚刚又订购了六架A-29B“超级巨嘴鸟”轻型攻击机。一份价值1.128亿美元的授标通知书于2024年12月16日发出给巴西航空工业公司，该公司表示“预计将于2026年交付”。

为了更详细地说明正在进行的采购工作，加拿大国防部上个月发布了一份采购监控报告。例如，报告列出了为陆军采购的新型贝尔412EPX航空医疗直升机。

与此同时，S-70i“黑鹰”直升机的交付仍在继续。2019年采购了16架直升机，2022年又签订了32架的增购合同，其中10架迄今已交付。

菲律宾海军正在等待韩国现代重工（HD Hyundai Heavy Industries）建造的两艘HDC-3100型轻型护卫舰，预计分别于今年和明年交付。同一家造船厂还在为菲律宾建造六艘近海巡逻舰。

此外，一项价值6.13亿美元的网络系统采购项目也在进行中，旨在提升网络防御能力和系统集成水平。据报道，作为中国针对菲律宾“灰色地带”策略的一部分，国家支持的网络攻击在菲律宾政府机构中屡见不鲜。

戈登·阿瑟是《防务新闻》的亚洲特派记者。在香港工作20年后，他现居新西兰。他曾到访亚太地区约20个国家，参加过军事演习和防务展览。