Page 18 - ADT APRIL 2022 Online Magazine

with South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries
(HHI) to buy two corvettes to increase its
defence capabilities. According to Colonel
Ramon Zagala, Armed Forces of the Philippines [ SEA ]
spokesman, the two purpose-built small war-
ships would ‘‘definitely improve the navy’s
capability in terms of anti-air warfare, surface
warfare, anti-submarine warfare and electronic
warfare.” The country’s naval modernization
plan, which has encountered significant delays,
had envisaged the addition of ten missile-capa-
ble corvettes by 2023. HHI, which had earlier
won a contract to build two new frigates for the
Philippine Navy, is expected to deliver the two
corvettes by 2026.
the vessels.
In May last year, the Philippine Ministry of
Defense confirmed the acquisition of six Impact of the Pandemic
OPVs (Offshore Patrol Vessels) in Horizon 2 For navies in the region, budgetary constraints remain a big hurdle.
of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) The COVID-19 pandemic has set back the naval modernization pro-
Modernization Program. The OPVs will replace grams of the Philippines as well as Indonesia. Indonesia, which saw
the World War II ships that have been retired by its 44-year-old submarine KRI Nanggala-402 sink during a military
the Philippine Navy (PN). Australian shipbuilder exercise in April last year, is now planning to seek up to US$125
Austal, which has a shipyard in Balamban Cebu, billion in loans to modernize its military. With the ad hoc nature of
is likely to lead the service’s OPV procurement the country’s defence offsets coming in the way of its acquisition
program. of new combat platforms, the Indonesian navy has often resorted
to purchasing older second-hand warships.
The BRP Jose Rizal frigate was delivered to
the Philippines in May 2020 and commissioned A notable trend among Southeast Asian countries over the last
July the same year while the BRP Antonio decade is the subtle shift away from American, European, and
Luna was commissioned in March last year. Russian arms manufacturers and the growing dependence on
The guided-missile frigates are capable of sur- Asian arms makers for naval requirements. Indonesia and Malaysia,
face, sub-surface, air, and electronic warfare which have either bought weapons from China or partnered with
using state-of-the-art electronic sensors, long- the country for military equipment, has backed away in recent
range missiles, acoustic guided torpedoes, and years, leaving the door open for South Korean shipbuilders to fill
an embarked anti-submarine helicopter. In the gap in the market.
October last year, MBDA delivered the Mistral
3 surface-to-air-missiles (SAMs) for the frig- The country is a major weapons supplier to all four of Southeast
ates. South Korean defence manufacturer LIG Asia’s largest maritime countries and has played a key role in
Nex 1 is the supplier of the sea-skimming sur- keeping the naval modernization programs of these militaries
face-to-surface anti-ship C-Star missiles for alive. Japan, which has not had considerable success in exporting
arms, signed a defence equipment and technology transfer deal
with Vietnam in September last year. Vietnam has signed similar
agreements with ten other nations, including the United Kingdom,
Australia, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Huge Demand
Japan, India, and Singapore are also keen on ensuring that its naval
assets stay protected. In April, GA-ASI announced that its MQ-9B
SeaGuardian Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) has been
selected by the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) for its RPAS Project.
Operations are set to begin in October 2022.

Meanwhile, India is trying to find a happy medium between its ‘Make
in India‘ push in the defence sector and its pressing needs. The
defence ministry has set up a high-level committee to decide on the
number of MQ-9B drones that the three services intend to acquire.
Meanwhile, the Indian Coast Guard in March welcomed into service
two indigenously designed and manufactured Dhruv Advanced

18 | April 2022 WWW .GBP .COM.SG/ ADT