The military will acquire a diesel-electric submarine as part of the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program that President Duterte has approved, an official said Wednesday.
Defense Department spokesman Arsenio Andolong said the government will acquire the submarine to boost the country’s naval security, and that it will be a great equalizer in the Philippines’ naval arsenal.
“The Department of National Defense and the Budget department will talk on how to fund [the modernization program],” Andolong said.
The military’s capability upgrading program, which was crafted and first implemented during the Aquino administration, is divided into three phases”•Horizon 1.2 and 3″•with the second phase covering 2018 up to 2022.
Andolong said the submarine procurement program had become a priority, especially for the Navy, as it had moved from Horizon 3 to Horizon 2, whose implementation had been delayed, owing to the completion of other projects under Horizon 1.
Horizon 1, programmed from 2013 to 2017, resulted in the acquisition of three Del Pilar-class frigates, 12 FA-50PH light-lift interim fighters, two strategic sealift vessels, to name a few, while Horizon 2 is expected to run from 2018 to 2022.
The Horizon 2 project is supposed to be the transition period of the military from internal security operations to territorial, which carries a budget of P300 billion including procurements from the Philippine Air Force and the Army. Francisco Tuyay
Andolong declined to give the exact number of diesel-electric submarines that would be acquired.
The Philippine Navy has already created a submarine group・ under the military Horizon 2 project.
Philippine Navy Chief Robert Empedrad is already preparing to send his sailors for study and training on submarine operations preparatory to the acquisition of the sophisticated naval craft.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the country needed submarines for its security.