PH armed forces to deploy air surveillance radar for West Philippine Sea monitoring—Gapay

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay (Alexis Nueva España/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines—One of the air surveillance radars that the Philippines is acquiring from Japan would be deployed to Palawan to boost monitoring of the West Philippine Sea, Armed Forces chief Gen. Gilbert Gapay said on Tuesday (Oct. 13).

At an online forum hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, the AFP chief said one of the Japanese-made radars would be installed at the Matinloc gas platform “to beef up our monitoring capability in the West Philippine Sea.”

The Philippines will acquire three fixed long-range air surveillance radars, at a cost of P5.5 billion, with structures and a mobile air surveillance radar built by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. Deliveries are set to start in 2022.

The Matinloc gas platform in northwest Palawan ceased operations last year and is being considered for conversion into a military observation post because of its strategic location.

Gapay said the AFP was also looking at Japanese help to improve the Philippine military’s unmanned aerial systems.

He said Japan, which is highly advanced in technology, could also help “in developing our capabilities in cyber,” referring to cyber-defense and security.

“I think we could partner with Japan in this area,” Gapay said.

TSB