“Concept Paper on Missile Capability Acquisition forExternal Defense Requirement of the Philippines”

By: Commander Alfred Kenneth S Tingabngab III PN

I.INTRODUCTION:

A)BackgroundThe Armed Forces of the Philippines, under the Department of National Defense, adheresand conforms with the Philippine Government foreign policy of adopting a defensive stance in theaspect of External Defense. It’s Constitutional mandate of protecting the Sovereignty of the State,securing the territorial boundaries and patrimonial resources of the country and protecting theFilipino people requires that the defense establishment competently and properly equip – materiallyand non-materially - its forces in order to accomplished such tall order.While maintaining its defensive posture in addressing potential threats which may comefrom outside of its territorial jurisdiction, the DND-AFP must also be properly equip to conduct amyriad of capabilities that impacts on the internal security and promotes the development of thecountry.In equipping the Armed Forces in order to effectively and efficiently address its multifariousmissions and tasks, it is imperative that the Government, through the Defense Department,determine the proper weapon systems, equipments and tools which must be acquired to sustain thefighting confidence and core competencies of its forces. The acquisition of material or tangibleassets must be duly complemented with support systems and mechanisms that will further sustainthe utility of these material resources. The mutually supporting and complementary nature of acquired material and non-material resources, as epitome in the AFP Modernization Program and itsfive sub-programs, make up the military capability that the organization seeks to project, use,maintain and sustain in accomplishing its mandate.On weapon systems capacity, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as a matter of dismalfact, sincerely lags behind its neighboring countries in the region in terms of technology andapplications. One of technological advantage of other countries is their acquisition and developmentof missile systems as tools for deterrence and force persuasion or projection through engaging andlaunching offensive actions against any forms of high value threat. Missile application placesemphasis on strategic and / or high value targets or threat considering cost of the weapon systemitself which is an issue of Return of Investment (ROI).The AFP had a taste of such missile capability in the 1970’s when the Philippine Air Forcemaintained Sidewinder Missiles for its squadrons of F-5 Freedom Fighter Jets. Even so, suchcapability was narrowed to Air to Air Missile capability only and expansion of such missile systemswas not developed to include Ground to Air, Surface to Surface, Surface to Air, among others.Sadly, the PAF missile capability went on a downhill spiral with issues pertaining to logisticsmanagement as well as the fact that in the first half of the 2000 decade, the F5 Jets weredecommissioned and put out of service.

At present, the AFP no longer has the missile capability that it once had, in a limited way.The only semblance of such capability left are the direct fire rockets carried primarily byhelicopters. The application of the air-to-air missile for external defense during aircraft interdictionmission profiles in cases of unauthorized breach in the Philippine air space is no longer in existence.B)The ProblemGiven the brief exposure by the AFP on missile capability as experienced by the PAF andconsidering that technologically advance weapons systems, particularly missiles, are crediblecapabilities that projects the fighting confidence and capacity of a military force vis-à-vis themandate of the DND-AFP, such capability gap or vacuum must be accordingly filled or addressed.On the aspect of applying missiles for external defense requirement, taking into account thearchipelagic and geographic characteristic of our territorial frontier needing defense and security, itis a must that various / different delivery or launch methodologies as well as an array of weaponsystems with various lethality and range criteria be considered. Missile Capability acquisition mustlook into Ground Mobile Missile Batteries; Ship launched missile systems and Aircraft (FixedWinged and Helicopter) launched missiles systems, at the very least. In all of the three generalclassifications of missiles recommended to be acquired, guided systems for weapon plays a criticalcost driver.II.

CONCEPT

The acquisition of the missile capability can be undertaken through various approaches;however, as a matter of indisputable fact and like any other acquisition or procurement activity, the program will be constrained with cost and funding issues. Likewise, missile capability for externaldefense will be influenced by deployment and employment doctrines and rules of engagement,respectively, which will take into consideration identification of strategic locations and platformsfor these systems in order to optimize the use of the system. Nonetheless, herewith are the variousapproaches to missile capability acquisition, under a government to government procurement program with corresponding and realistic financing payment scheme package as instrument for realization and completion:

Option 1:

Acquisition of missile capability shall be done by Major Services and within a period 5 years for each Service, taking into account production and integration cycles for theweapon system. The program should be start with the Philippine Navy for its designated CapitalShips that will need missile mounting re-configuration. The Navy needs to be prioritize for this program considering that it already has the platforms that will carry such weapon system. The rangeof weapons effectiveness can be extended by the ships conducting territorial defense patrols. ThePAF could not yet accommodate such system on their fixed winged aircrafts currently in their inventory; however, PAF can consider accommodating air-to-surface or air-to-air missiles for their rotary assets, particularly the Combat Utility Helicopters (CUH) and Night Capable Attack Helicopter (NCAH) which they are currently acquiring and provided further that these assets have provisions for the mounting of missiles. The PA ground mobile missile launchers could beaccommodate last in the phasing in of such weapon system as the quantity required and utility of such ground assets would be limited due to geographic considerations. The PA may consider acquiring Surface to Air and limited range Surface to Surface missiles.

Options 2:

Acquisition of missile capability shall be done simultaneously by the Major Services; however, the program can be stretch for a longer period of time and until requirements arefully met. Similar to option 1, this option can accommodate skills training of personnel during thelife of the phasing in of the weapon system in each Major Service.

Option 3:

Acquisition of missile capability may be undertaken using a combination of bothoptions 1 and 2; however, it must be provided that one unit of each class of missile system be usednot only for training but also as a dedicated prototype for reverse-engineering and / or research anddevelopment with the end objective of tapping the Self-Reliant Defense Program (SRDP) for theeventual setting up of a local production line for either a similar and / or improved model of the prototype system.

Option 4:

Acquisition of missile capability be limited to only the PN and PAF with the PAspecializing competence on Field Artillery. Again, PN and PAF may use options 1 and 2 or acombination of both options in the realization of the program.

III.IMPLEMENTATION

If the acquisition of the missile capability will be pursued, then, the following stages willhave to be seriously undertaken: a.Identifying and defining missile needs requirement b.Defense and AFP Hard Core Stand on the acquisition of missile capabilityc.Stakeholder advocacy and managementd.Government to Government Procurement with Financing Packagee.Doctrine Development and Training Cycles in tandem with Productionf.Installation and System Integration Module with Trainingg.Operation and Maintenance with Trainingh.System Handling and Storage of ILS or replacement provisionsi.Open Systems / Research and Development with Training j.Reproduction and Upgrading of Systemk.Secured Decommissioning or Disposal of Systems

IV.CONCLUSION

The acquisition of missile systems for external defense posture is a program whose time hascome. The realization of the program, even if implemented in phases due to cost and fundingfactors, addresses the capability gaps for over-the-horizon weapon and damage-to-enemy-forcesdelivery. The program also assures the beneficiary organization – the AFP – of an entry intechnological advancement in weapon system which shall boost confidence in undertaking coremission and promote initiatives for improvements in operational performance. It seeks to lessen theweapon systems gap awareness and capability with neighboring armed forces.The acquisition of missile capability using the government to government procurementapproach with financing payment scheme addresses not only upfront funding limitations but thesame will also guarantee quality products as well as an assurance that friendly and allied nationsalso carry such weapon system in their inventory thereby allowing joint operations capacity whensuch type of operations are required in the future. Likewise, since such weapon system is in an