PH to upgrade old air station with air defense radarAir defense radars will detect intrusions in the country's air space. They will work in tandem with the squadron of fighter jets acquired from South Korea, two due to arrive in the last quarter of 2015.
Carmela Fonbuena
@carmelafonbuena
Published 4:34 PM, March 24, 2015
Updated 4:34 PM, March 24, 2015
http://www.rappler.com/nation/87816-philippines-air-defense-surveillance-radarMANILA, Philippines – A 54-year-old Philippine Air Force (PAF) facility will be upgraded to host an air defense surveillance radar as part of government efforts to to strengthen the country's territorial defense, according to the Department of National Defense.
"We give primacy to the enhancement of our capability to monitor and secure our territory. Gozar Air Station will play a major role as we shift our focus from internal security operations to territorial defense," Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said in a statement on Tuesday, March 24.
Gazmin inspected the facility on March 21.
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The Philippines has one remaining radar system at the Wallace air station in San Fernando, La Union, leaving its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) practically unprotected. That adar system also has limited range and is no longer fully operational.
Lubang Island is in Mindoro Occidental. It is located off Batangas province and is near Metro Manila.
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Military radars have more capabilities and sweep a wider area compared to the air traffic control radars of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), explained PAF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Enrico Canaya.
CAAP requires civilian aircraft to keep its transponders on, so its radars can see them. Military radars can see even malfunctioninng transponders or those that were deliberately turned off.
In case the radars detect unidentified aircraft within the country's air defense zone, Canaya said the PAF could scramble the fighter jets to verify it.
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