‘PH Navy needs more missile boats’

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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Navy on Friday said the country needs “dozens” more missile gunboats in line with the government’s thrust towards external defense amid tensions in the West Philippine Sea.

“We need dozens of missile gunboats to protect our sea lanes of communication [and] our international passageways,” Navy chief Flag Officer in Command Vice Admiral Toribio Adaci Jr. said in a press conference in Manila.

The Navy currently has six Acero-class patrol vessels, capable of delivering precision strikes thanks to its remote stabilized weapons and short-range missiles.

Two of them have just been commissioned on Monday.

In total, the government acquired nine Fast Attack Interdiction Craft platforms from Israel, with the remaining three still under construction.

Adaci also said such capability upgrades are in line with the government’s Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept which is  aimed at protecting the country’s national patrimony within its own exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“We are an archipelagic nation with rich natural resources and with the recent pronouncement of the national leadership, we are now actively embracing the distinctive characteristics and vulnerabilities that come with this unique position,” Adaci said in his speech during the Navy’s founding anniversary.