Phl to get ground-based air defense systems, add’l radars in 2024

The Philippines is set to receive ground-based air defense systems and additional radars beginning next year which will be utilized to boost the country's air defense.

This was bared by Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa during the Senate deliberation of the P233.27 billion proposed budget of the Department of Defense, Armed Forces of the Philippines, and its other attached agencies on Monday night.

During an interpellation, Senator Risa Hontiveros asked the department if their proposed budget also included the country's efforts to enhance the Air Defense Capability.

"Yes, the present budget is supporting it in two ways. Number one is aerial domain awareness, and surface-to-air missile systems," Dela Rosa, who sponsored the defense budget, replied to Hontiveros.

Dela Rosa stressed that aerial domain awareness and surface-to-air missile systems will serve as the backbone of the AFP's air defense efforts.

"[And] by next year, we will witness the arrival of ground-based air defense systems, and we're going to have additional radars that would be integrated into the system," he added.

Hontiveros asked Dela Rosa should the arrival of the ground-based air defense and the additional radars would at least provide a skeletal foundation for air defense capability.

Dela Rosa responded, "Not yet, your honor."

He noted that it would take at least five years to fully establish the country's air defense capability. But Dela Rosa assured that it is still covered by the military's Horizon 1 to Horizon 3 modernization efforts.

The AFP Modernization program's Horizon 3 is slated for 2023 to 2028 while Horizon 2 is from 2018 to 2022 and Horizon 1 is from 2013 to 2018.

The AFP earlier noted that all these horizons are geared toward acquiring equipment and weapon platforms, boosting the military's external defense mandate.