Defense of the Republic of the Philippines

FAA NOTAM System Outage Causes Major Shut Down Of U.S. Flights
January 11, 2023

WASHINGTON—The FAA held all U.S. domestic departures on Jan. 11 from 6:29 a.m. EDT after the Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) system went down before lifting the nationwide order more than two hours later.

[Video] Chaos all across U.S. after FAA System Outage | Thousands of Flights Canceled

[Video] Indo-Pacific Forecast 2023 (Streamed live on Jan 12, 2023)

What is the outlook for U.S.-China relations?  Which of the U.S. alliance networks in the Indo-Pacific is most promising?  Will IPEF thrive?  Join CSIS experts to explore these and other questions during our annual preview of political, security, and economic developments across the Indo-Pacific region.

Agenda
8:00-8:05 AM - Welcoming Remarks
Victor Cha
Senior Vice President for Asia and Korea Chair
 
8:05-8:45 AM -  Roundtable Discussion: Networking in the Indo-Pacific     
Kurt Campbell
Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs, National Security Council

Taeyong Cho
Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the United States

Jose Manuel G. Romualdez
Ambassador of the Philippines to the United States
 
Moderated by
Nicholas Szechenyi
Senior Fellow, Japan Chair and Deputy Director for Asia, CSIS
 
8:45-9:30 AM - Panel I: China
Jude Blanchette
Freeman Chair in China Studies, CSIS

Scott Kennedy
Senior Adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics, CSIS

Bonny Lin
Director, China Power Project and Senior Fellow, Asian Security, CSIS

Lily McElwee
Fellow, Freeman Chair in China Studies and CSIS-Chumir Global Dialogue, CSIS
 
Moderated by
Nicholas Szechenyi
Senior Fellow, Japan Chair and Deputy Director for Asia, CSIS
                       
9:30-10:15 AM - Panel II: Allies and Partners
Charles Edel
Australia Chair and Senior Adviser, CSIS

Christopher Johnstone
Senior Adviser and Japan Chair, CSIS

Ellen Kim
Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Korea Chair, CSIS

Yuko Nakano
Fellow, Japan Chair, and Associate Director, U.S.-Japan Strategic Leadership Program, CSIS

Greg Poling
Senior Fellow and Director, Southeast Asia Program and Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, CSIS
 
Moderated by
Victor Cha
Senior Vice President for Asia and Korea Chair, CSIS
 
10:15-11:00 AM - Panel III: Economics and Trade
William A. Reinsch
Senior Adviser and Scholl Chair in International Business, CSIS

Matthew Goodman
Senior Vice President for Economics, CSIS

Erin Murphy
Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Economics Program, CSIS

Raymond Vickery
Senior Associate (Non-Resident), Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies, CSIS
 
Moderated by
Emily Benson
Senior Fellow, Scholl Chair in International Business, CSIS
 
11:00 AM - Adjourn

Awarded to Turkish company, System Defense, which seems to have offered it's MFR56 light machine gun. (Apparently a clone of the ARES Shrike/Fightlite MCR.)





References:
Invitation to Bid, 19 Jul 2021

Notice to Proceed, 20 Sept. 2022

MFR56 (Closed Bolt Version) Brochure

MFR56 Brochure

System Defense Rifle products brochure

Japan To Replace Attack, Scout Aircraft With UAS
December 12, 2022

Japan will replace all of its army’s attack and scout helicopters with uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), the Yomiuri newspaper reported, citing multiple unnamed government sources.

PBBM to grace AFP’s 87th founding anniversary
Published December 16, 2022, 12:06 PM
by Martin Sadongdong

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is expected to attend the 87th founding anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) next week.

The anniversary, slated on Dec. 21, will be highlighted by a parade of the troops and its modern assets and equipment including its trucks, missile systems, and aircraft at the AFP General Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City on Monday, Dec. 19.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “AFP@87: Kaisa ng Buong Sambayanan Tungo sa Mapayapa, Matatag, at Maunlad na Pilipinas.”

“The AFP aims to showcase our transformation and advancement as a military organization through the display of these assets,” Col. Medel Aguilar, acting AFP spokesperson, said.

“There will be a parade on [December] 19 and we have invited the President to be our guest of honor and speaker because he is our Commander in Chief,” he added.

In preparation for the event, rehearsals were undertaken by the AFP which included a series of fly-bys of air assets over Camp Aguinaldo and nearby areas.

“Movements of ground assets are also expected as they will be part of the static display and parade and review inside the camp,” Aguilar noted.

Aside from the parade, the AFP has also prepared humanitarian activities nationwide for their anniversary celebration such as bloodletting programs, tree-planting activities, free museum visits in camps, and open ship visits among others.

The AFP will also be awarding military personnel and civilian stakeholders for their exemplary contributions to the internal security operations of the military.

Army accomplishments

Meanwhile, the Philippine Army (PA) said it made strides this year in accomplishing its mandate as a professional, capable and responsive force provider to the AFP.

Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., PA commanding general, said the Army continues its modernization thrust as it moves forward in its long-term transformation roadmap.

He said the Army Transformation Roadmap started its third and final base camp wherein it aims to achieve the organization’s full potential as a world-class land force by 2028.

This new vision is anchored on the PA’s organizational and capability development plans, the AFP modernization initiatives, and the Philippine Development Plan “Ambisyon Natin 2040.”

The PA is also continuously modernizing its defense assets and materiel under the second horizon of the revised AFP modernization program.

“For this year, the organization deployed game-changer assets such as 12 units of 155mm self-propelled howitzers; 15 units of M113A2 armored mortar carriers; two units of Vehicle Mounted Mine Detectors; two units of Armor Vehicle Launch Bridge, unmanned aerial systems, combat radios, and thermal imagers,” Brawner said.

“These new assets will boost the capabilities of ground units as the Army shifts from internal security to territorial defense operations,” he added.

Moreover, the PA also installed 234 very small aperture terminals (VSATs) in remote patrol bases to provide connectivity to troops and outlying communities.

To deal with emerging threats, the PA also activated new units such as the 10th Field Artillery Battalion (SP-155), Cyber Battalion, five installation management battalions, and three infantry battalions.

It also reactivated the 1st Tank Battalion which will serve as the mother unit of existing and upcoming tank assets of the PA.

In its fight against insurgency, terrorism, and lawlessness, the PA said that the troops engaged state enemies in four decisive encounters, 15 major encounters, and 96 minor encounters, resulting in the neutralization of 1,407 communist and local terrorists as well as the seizure of 1,484 enemy firearms from January to December 2022.

A total of 2,011 rebels have also surrendered this year.

“The Philippine Army honors the hard work, sacrifice, and selfless service of soldiers in fulfillment of their oath to serve the people and secure the land,” Brawner said.

A story I missed and only just found out about:

Ever Win, US Electronics Company Relocates To Philippines from China

Ever Win International Corporation, California-based manufacturer and supplier of accessories for smartphone devices and laptops has shut down its factories in China and relocated some of its production to Philippines. Ever win has started operations last month after registering with the Philippine Economy Zone Authority (PEZA).

Senen Perlada, director of the Export Marketing Bureau of the Department of Trade and Industry said that the move was due to rising manufacturing costs in China. “The US-China trade war is immaterial to the decisions of these companies to move out of China. It’s more of sustainability and stability issues since China is fast becoming expensive,” said Perlada.

Ever win has further plans to relocate in other ASEAN countries to spread the risks. Furthermore, Perlada said that two other US electronic companies involved in artificial intelligence and integrated chips manufacturing would soon join Ever Win. These companies are also keen on investing and moving their manufacturing operations from China to Philippines.

Philippine Navy Receives Submarine Training From France’s DCI Group
Xavier Vavasseur 04 Nov 2022

The Philippine Navy is aiming at creating a submarine force. They are considering proposal from both France’s Naval Group and South Korea’s DSME. Naval News understands that the submarine training provided by DCI Group is generic and platform agnostic but bring “French operational expertise” because DCI instructors are experts retired from the French Navy.

Quote from: DCI Group statement

Today, DCI provides consulting and training to the Philippine Navy as they build their submarine force. Initial assistance services on the operational deployment of submarines and organizing a submarine force began in 2019 and are ongoing in Brest, France. DCI is the only global player with a proven international record of accomplishment in submarine capability building and benefiting from the “French label”.

...

Since the 2000s, DCI has supported submarine forces in many Asian and Latin American countries with its comprehensive capability-building offer.

DCI has trained more than 1,500 foreign officers and submariners in its naval branch, NAVFCO, in France and abroad. DCI uses modern simulation tools to train submariners across all specialties: submarine operations and conduct, platform health and safety, anti-submarine warfare (ASW), communications, electronic warfare, maintenance and logistics, etc.

DCI experts support partner submarine forces through onshore (training centers) and at sea (on their own submarines) training so their crews can train individually, in teams, and as full crew. This incremental approach allows trainees to acquire skills progressively as they work toward a complete mastery of new platforms in what are extremely complex operational environments and scenarios. In total, DCI has trained seven Scorpène crews in France or in client countries: Chile (2002-2005), Malaysia (2004-2019), India (2016-2018), and Brazil (2018-present).

In addition to operational training, DCI provides consulting services to countries seeking to create a submarine force: organizing a submarine force, assistance with contracting and project management, developing enduring human resources policies and targeted logistics, strengthening of training centers with experienced instructors and modern simulators (like in Malaysia).

Naval Group is performing its first contract in the Philippines to provide anti-torpedo defence system based on CANTO® countermeasures
20 October 2022

On Monday 17th October, the representatives of the Department of National Defence for the Philippine Navy and Naval Group have conducted the Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) of CONTRALTO® reaction module in France. This milestone enables the installation of CONTRALTO® into the C-Guard decoy launching system of the two frigates.

On 1st December 2021, Naval Group was notified of its first contract in the Philippines by the Department of National Defence for the Philippine Navy. Naval Group will provide anti-torpedo defence system based on CANTO®/CONTRALTO® countermeasures solution to equip the two Jose Rizal-class frigates.

CANTO® is the latest countermeasure generation in the defence industry. This breakthrough in the field of anti-torpedo defence applies a unique concept to defend the frigate. It is based on the dilution/confusion concept to defend high value and mission essential units by generating a highlevel acoustic signal over 360-degree, covering the full frequency range of the attacking torpedo.

This anti-torpedo system is fitted with its associated reaction module Contralto®, which computes the most appropriate evasive manoeuvre and deployment sequence once a threat is detected.

CANTO® and CONTRALTO® are worldwide references already in service in the French Navy and in many foreign navies.

Naval Group has announced the opening of its office in Manilla in late 2020. The company’s extensive portfolio opens many opportunities to address the entire range of Philippine naval needs from development of the naval forces to the constitution of a world-class submarine force.