Defense of the Republic of the Philippines

US, PHL marine units to participate in PHIBLEX 33

MANILA, Sept. 25 (PNA) -- US marines and sailors from the US Marine Expeditionary Brigade and the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike will be participating in the 33rd Philippine Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX) which will take place in various locations in Luzon and Palawan from October 4 to 12.

Humanitarian civic assistance efforts, an amphibious landing exercise and live-fire training featuring artillery are just a few of the many team buildingopportunities during PHIBLEX 33, all designed to advance cooperation, improve inter-operability and assist in strengthening bilateral amphibiouscapabilities.

"The opportunity to train and build mutually beneficial capabilities with our Armed Forces of the Philippines partners is essential for sharpening our bilateral amphibious and humanitarian assistance capabilities, both hallmarks of the US Marine Corps,” 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade commander Brig. Gen. John M. Jansen said.

“Exchanging expertise and cultivating our longstanding security alliance provides a cornerstone for security and stability in the region, and has for decades,” he added.

PHIBLEX 33 will include approximately 1,400 US service members based in Okinawa, Japan and 500 Filipino personnel working side-byside to grow capabilities and better prepare to operate together during a natural disaster or armed conflict.

The humanitarian and civic assistance portion of the exercise, beginning this month and concluding on Oct. 12, includes engineering projects to improve local infrastructure and health engagements to exchange medical best practices and supplement the medical needs of Philippine citizens.

Field training during the exercise includes small arms and artillery live-fire which will provide the and US Marine units multiple opportunities to maintain and sharpen their skills while enhancing an already high level of inter-operability.

Additional US units participating include Amphibious Squadron 11, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and the three ships of Bonhomme RichardAmphibious Ready Group (BHR ARG).

The ARG consists of the USS BHR (LHD-6), the USS Green Bay (LPD-20), and the USS Germantown (LSD-48).

Philippine units include the 3d Marine Brigade and the Philippine Navy’s new strategic sealift vessel, the BRP Tarlac (LD-601). (PNA)
BNB/PFN

Eastern Shipbuilding Wins Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Cutter Award; Bests BIW, Bollinger
By: Sam LaGrone
September 15, 2016 7:34 PM

The Coast Guard has selected Eastern Shipbuilding to build its new Offshore Patrol Cutters and awarded the Florida shipbuilder a $110.3 million contract for the first hull and options for eight more, the service announced late Thursday.

Eastern beat out General Dynamics Bath Iron Works and Bollinger Shipyards for the design and construction of the potential $2.38 billion program in the Coast Guard’s second round competition for what the service calls its, “highest investment priority.”

The first hull is estimated to deliver in 2021.

In 2014 the Coast Guard awarded $64 million in design contracts to Eastern, Bollinger and BIW for the competition to build the replacement for the service’s decades-old medium endurance cutters from a field of eight yards competing for the work.

The service has estimated the ships would cost about $421 million a hull for a total buy of 25 cutters.

The OPC will replace the service’s 210-foot and 270-foot Medium Endurance Cutters. It will feature increased range and endurance, powerful weapons, a larger flight deck, and improved command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) equipment. The OPC will accommodate aircraft and small boat operations in all weather,” read a May Congressional Research Service report on Coast Guard Procurement.

In the statement, Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft said, “whether combating transnational organized criminal networks off Central America or patrolling in the increasingly accessible Arctic, the Offshore Patrol Cutter will ensure our nation’s maritime security and economic interests are preserved for decades to come.”

The following is the Sept. 15, 2016 announcement from the Coast Guard.

US Coast Guard awards Phase II OPC contract

WASHINGTON — The Coast Guard awarded a contract to Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc., of Panama City, Florida, Thursday for the production of the lead Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) and up to eight follow-on cutters.

The total award was valued at $110.29 million. The contract has a potential value of $2.38 billion with options to produce nine cutters.

The OPC acquisition will replace the service’s aging fleet of medium endurance cutters, some that are in excess of 50 years old. Each OPC will feature a flight deck and advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment.

The OPC will provide a capability bridge between the National Security Cutter and the Fast Response Cutter, which operates closer to shore.

“The Offshore Patrol Cutter acquisition is the Coast Guard’s highest investment priority, and we are proud to announce this important milestone,” said Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Paul Zukunft. “The Offshore Patrol Cutter will replace our aging medium endurance cutters and provide the majority of offshore presence by the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet. Whether combating transnational organized criminal networks off Central America or patrolling in the increasingly accessible Arctic, the Offshore Patrol Cutter will ensure our Nation’s maritime security and economic interests are preserved for decades to come.”

The first OPC is expected to be delivered in fiscal year 2021; the service plans to build 25 OPCs.

The Coast Guard is currently evaluating home porting options.

Geographer: China’s Claim to South China Sea Not Rooted in History
By: John Grady
September 23, 2016 11:42 AM

A British geographer and journalist described China’s claims to large swaths of seas and land formations off its coast are based on 20th-century events — from the Boxer Rebellion to the defeat of Japan in World War II — and not deeply rooted in its history.

This assertion brought several heated questions from the audience.

Bill Hayton, an associate fellow at London’s Chatham House and the author of South China Sea, The Struggle for Power in Asia, said in response to a question that Beijing’s claims are valid “because [these territories] are ours” historically, said “a hundred years ago you [Chinese citizens] wouldn’t feel” the same way. For much of China’s past, most of the South China Sea was viewed as “a place where pirates roam.”

Speaking Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C. think tank, he added, now, “every Chinese child is taught James Shoal is the southernmost part of Chinese territory.” The shoal is under water and claimed by China, Taiwan and Malaysia. It is more than 1,000 miles from the Chinese mainland and 50 miles from the Malaysia coast.

In answering a question about whether the media are increasing tensions over the disputes in the East and South China Seas, Hayton said, “The story has shifted” from one of China’s claims in the early 20th century in disputes with Japan and France over pieces of territory to one of who has the most influence in the region — Beijing or Washington.

He said the international arbitration panel’s recent ruling against China in a dispute with the Philippines over its so-called “9-Dash Line” territorial claims fell within the rules laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that the Spratlys were not islands. “There are no records of settled families” by the Chinese on them. The treaty calls for “human habitation, so they [aren’t] islands in that sense.”

Hayton added that Beijing was an early and strong supporter of the treaty “to stop countries from” making territorial claims like the ones it made in the case over the Scarborough Shoal brought by Philippine case.

The first time the “9-Dash Line” appears in an official document is 1946″ and includes the Spratlys in a 1947 map, he said. The timing was part of an agreement among the Allies that “all the territory stolen from China [by Japan] will be returned.” The question was, “Where do China’s borders lay?”

Although China did not do much surveying work in the South China Sea and its fishermen did not continually inhabit the reefs and shoals, Beijing began producing in the early decades of the 20th century “maps of national humiliation.” They indicated certain land features also claimed by Japan, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines were under its control. The “line,” which has shifted several times, was to make the territory appear to be contiguous.

Hayton said what moved Chinese imperial officials in the early 20th century to make these first claims was to “show it is standing up to foreigners.” The imperial government was trying to regain control of its own affairs and territory, usually close to the mainland, and solidify support with its people.

Later Chinese Republic officials continued these moves by “sticking in flags” on the Paracel Islands and sticking “one in the eye for the Japanese or anyone else,” who didn’t respect its sovereignty and claims.

At the beginning of his presentation, Hayton said China’s claims in the disputed waters “are just as incoherent as others” to these islands, reefs, barriers and shoals. He said Beijing is making these claims out of a “sense of entitlement,” which shows no signs of going away.