Philippine Defense Budget Statistics from 2019 to 2021

Through the years, the discussion provided among Philippine defense communities only encompasses the thing on the surface, most likely encompassing the military hardware purchased by the Armed Forces of the Philippines through the Department of National Defense under the Revised AFP Modernization Program. 

What's rarely getting a discussion is the one that serve as a critical component that will ensure that various acquisition projects that the Philippine military has will get materialized and eventually getting delivered to the end-user from any of the three branches that defined the Armed Forces of the Philippines. In this topic, the details will become more intricate, as the discussion will cover the country's defense spending from 2019 to 2021.

DISCUSSION OVERVIEW

Defense budgeting is a lifeline that ensures the materialization of the Revised AFP Modernization.

Philippine defense topics of contemporary times usually cover recent updates relating to the ongoing Revised AFP Modernization Program, where the crowd of defense enthusiasts talking to social media usually talks about the essence of securing military hardware of various types to ensure the security and deterrence of the country’s national sovereignty and interest against both domestic and foreign threats, particularly on the projects pushed by all three (3) branches of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

But all of that talk has an underlying factor that can define or break this defense modernization momentum, one that requires understanding it as this factor plays a big and fully significant role to making sure that the materialization of an acquisition project gets fulfilled, along to its component that ensures its continuous operational, maintenance, and repair requirements throughout its length of active service within the necessities of the Philippine Military.

This factor refers to the aspect of budgeting itself, specifically the very function of government budgeting in relation to how annual appropriations get passed and how the entire defense sector secures a portion of the entire government’s budget allotments, with details added to it as to the quantity of that budgetary pie went to the Revised AFP Modernization Program. The increase and decrease in allocation to the defense sector define how the planners proceed with their respective acquisition projects.

Getting a full discussion on the functionality of the Philippine defense budgetary trends is something that is not founded on, at least not until this article comes in to point out the needed statistical data to provide the full picture of how things came to the overall trends of the defense allotments and the expenditure that always came with it. Add also to that the budgetary technicalities that an average person found to be complex and incomprehensible until an understandable reason gets explained.

Since the enactment of the Republic Act 10349 or the Revised AFP Modernization Program, the annually enacted General Appropriations Act provided a portion of the allotments intended for the full materialization of the acquisition projects under the said law, all of which aim for the improvement of the overall capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, especially at this period where the national government has the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept or CADC as part of its policy.

Add to this are the pressures provided by the country’s key ally, especially with the United States government under the administration of Donald Trump, where the alliances should have committed at least 2% to 5% of their respective Gross Domestic Product or GDP output to finance their respective defense programs and upkeep. With the figure provided, this writeup aims to provide additional understanding of the statistical data relating to the country’s national defense spending annually.

In its first of a multiple series that will release on this website in the upcoming years, the information provided will give full insight to the budgetary trends relating to the Philippine defense spending, especially in relation to its annual reports of its Gross Domestic Product, in this case spanning three (3) years from year 2019 to 2021. The succeeding years will have its own entry, and the previous years before 2019 have insufficient data to make it into this discussion as of this time of publishing.

AT A GLANCE

Here is the statistical data originating from reliable sources.
Click the table to enlarge.

For this discussion, as the title itself suggests, will encompass Philippine defense budgetary allotments encompassing three (3) years, although the other years, particularly the latter ones, will come as a separate topic to ensure that each content will come manageable to delve on, as the details on each fiscal year’s expenditure per service branch and other services within the Department of National Defense will also come as part of the entire presentation.

As the topics covered three (3) years from 2019 to 2021, the details will come with a comparative data presentation, which at a glance, is present as statistical information provided in the table displayed above. 

The parameters presented are as follows: the years covered in this scope and the allotments presented under the Department of National Defense, including agencies outside the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Added to it is the budget for the Revised AFP Modernization Program, plus under ‘Un-programmed’ column.

Another set of parameters presented in the table above includes the overall Gross Domestic Product or GDP that the Republic of the Philippines produced from 2019 to 2021, both in dollar and peso denomination, with the latter having a calculated average for foreign exchange being a reliable parameter for calculations. 

Completing the table presented here will go as the percentage (%) of the defense budget to the country’s annual GDP, giving a picture of its trend with the presented three (3) years as a parameter.

At a glance, as this section intends to be, presents a promising prospect to the overall budgetary presentation that the Department of National Defense has as to the respect to the annual Gross Domestic Product that the Republic of the Philippines have as its output for the said three (3) years. In 2019, the total defense budget comes at around Php 186.222 billion, with the percentage of the GDP being around 0.95%. The gross domestic product, or GDP, for the year 2019 is at around Php 19.507 trillion.

In the year 2020, the budget presented as part of the Department of National Defense’s own expenditure for the year totals at around Php 196.744 billion, an increase of around Php 10.5 billion compared to the previous year. 

That also reflects its increase, respectful to the annual Gross Domestic Product of the country, whereby the latter, amounting to Php 17.355 trillion, comprises around 1.13% of the entire GDP. The percentage clearly breaches the 1% share, as opposed to the previous year’s percentage.

Finally, the figures in 2021 give a slight shrinkage in the defense spending percentage to the GDP, although the shrinkage is only small at around 1.11%. Still, the budget of the Department of National Defense for the year still saw an increase to around Php 216.471 Billion, of which the Revised AFP Modernization Program also saw an increase for the first time as opposed to the constant Php 25 Billion and Php 5 Billion on both programmed and un-programmed appropriations, respectively, totalling Php 30 Billion.

While the figures presented on the table can only provide much insight on the overall Philippine defense budget that spans three (3) years, as mentioned, the following details will delve deeper to the breakdown of each object of expenditures that the Department of National Defense have in this presentation, ranging from the respective budget of all three (3) service branches of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, down to the three (3) budget clusters - PS, MOOE, and CO.

For reference, here is an official GDP data from the World Bank (archived link here). 

PHILIPPINE DEFENSE BUDGET - FY 2019

The overall breakdown of the Philippine defense budget under the
2019 General Appropriations Act.
Image Source.

On the table presented above, the Department of National Defense presents a budget amounting to Php 186.222 billion under the 2019 General Appropriations Act, with the Armed Forces of the Philippines getting the huge portion of the defense budget pie, at around Php 180.398 billion. 

The agency that got the second place in the largest portion of the 2019 defense budget is the Veterans Memorial Medical Center, with a budget of around Php 1.866 billion, followed by the Office of Civil Defense, which has around Php 1.3 billion.

Breaking it down to the service branches under this period, the Philippine Army received the largest pie with the total budget amounting to Php 91.407 billion, followed by the Philippine Navy, where its budget comes at around Php 27.842 billion. 

Finally, the Philippine Air Force amounts to around Php 24.584 billion. The amounts under Capital Outlay also come with a similar ranking, with Php 3.515 billion, Php 1.252 billion, and Php 352 million distributed accordingly among the three branches, in that order.

The largest portion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ budget under this fiscal period goes to the expenditures that fall under the Personnel Services or PS cluster, of which the budget goes to the salary, benefits, and pension of both active and retired personnel that belong to the Philippine military. 

The breakdown is the following allotments: Php 74.488 billion for the Philippine Army, Php 19.334 billion to the Philippine Navy, Php 14.743 billion for the Philippine Air Force, and Php 5.740 billion for the AFP-GHQ.

For the Revised AFP Modernization Program, this line item falls under the Capital Outlay portion of the General Headquarters, AFP and AFP-wide Service Support Units or AFPWSSUS, with that allotment keeping the fixed amount of Php 25 Billion, without the usual Php 5 Billion allotment for the program lined under the ‘Un-programmed Appropriations’ portion of this fiscal year’s General Appropriations Act that the succeeding years have, provided on the table above.

Continuing to the budget breakdown for the fiscal year 2019, the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ budget for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses or MOOE has a sum of Php 35,732,408,000.00 with the Philippine Army having the largest pie at Php 13.402 billion, followed by the Philippine Air Force with the budget of around Php 9.488 Billion allotted for this cluster. Completing the list is the Philippine Navy with a budget of Php 7.255 billion, and AFP-GHQ with a budget of around Php 5.587 billion.

The year 2019 will be the period where the Philippine defense budget in total equates to 0.95% of the said fiscal period’s Gross Domestic Product as reported by the World Bank’s own official data, where the figures provided for the year is at around US$376.820 Billion, or Php 19.507 Trillion based on the said year’s average foreign exchange rate. As provided on the table ‘at a glance’, the Philippines’ defense budget will breach the 1% threshold in the succeeding year.

At the turn of the decade comes its new set of figures and relevant budgetary data earmarked for the Philippine defense expenditure purposes, although several of its output might have a minor pushback given that an unexpected turn of events, namely a medical health emergency that struck the world economy, contracting each country’s economic output with that period. Despite this, the following year provided its statistical data for comparative purposes as part of this topic.

PHILIPPINE DEFENSE BUDGET - FY 2020

The overall breakdown of the Philippine defense budget under the
2020 General Appropriations Act.
Image Source.

Coming at 1.13% total rate compared to the country’s overall Gross Domestic Product at the period at Php 17.355 Trillion, the overall Philippine defense budget expenditure breached the 1% of the Gross Domestic Product share percentage, which might seem signifying relating to the growth of the share of the defense expenditure to the overall economic output for the year. However, deep details regarding this explanation entail the reason relating to this achievement.

During the year, an unexpected global event took place, where a global pandemic got triggered because of the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, resulting in a series of enforced lockdowns that have rendered the global economy to a standstill. 

Because of this, the Philippine economy contracted a bit, of which compared to the 2019 Gross Domestic Product of Php 19.507 trillion, the country’s output in 2020 lowered significantly at around Php 17.355 trillion.

Still, the overall Philippine defense budget in 2020 still saw significant growth, with the allotment presented under the General Appropriations Act ending up having a total figure of Php 191.744 billion, higher than 2019’s Php 186.222 billion budget. 

Also, compared to the defense budget in 2019, the allotments for the Revised AFP Modernization Program under the un-programmed appropriations appeared, with the amount totaling Php 5 billion, while the programmed budget remained at Php 25 billion.

Going to the specifics, the Php 191.744 billion defense budget breaks down into the following details as discussed in the following sentences. Personnel Services or PS allotments for personnel basic salary and benefits have the largest pie of the budget at Php 119.716 Billion, trailing next is the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses at Php 41.340 Billion, and Capital Outlay, which includes the allotment for the Revised AFP Modernization Program, at Php 30.686 Billion.

On the presented breakdown, the allotment provided for the Armed Forces are as follows - Php 118.110 Billion for the Personnel Services or salaries and benefits for both uniform and civilian personnel of the agency, Php 37.693 Billion for the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses or for upkeep of both military equipment and military facilities, Php 19 Million for Financial Services, and Php 30.201 Billion for Capital Outlay, with Php 25 Billion Revised AFP Modernization Program budget included in the figure.

Now talking to the breakdown among service branches of the Armed Forces of the Philippines under the 2020 General Appropriations Act, the one that receives the largest pie of allotments is the Philippine Army, amounting to Php 92.508 Billion, followed by the Philippine Navy at Php 29.054 Billion, and last is the Philippine Air Force at Php 26.436 Billion. The budget under the AFP-General Headquarters and AFP Wide Service Support Units (including the RAFPMP allotment) is at around Php 38.005 billion.

The next part will complete the three (3) year comparison of defense expenditures that the Republic of the Philippines have from 2019 to 2021, with the latter getting a boost for its budget for the Revised AFP Modernization Program for the first time on both programmed and un-programmed appropriations. 

As presented at a glance, the trend of the annual Philippine defense budget comes at a constantly increasing pace, with the 2021 budget surpassing Php 200 billion for the first time.

PHILIPPINE DEFENSE BUDGET - FY 2021

The overall breakdown of the Philippine defense budget under the 
2021 General Appropriations Act.
Image Source.

Coming at 1.11% of the Gross Domestic Product for the year, the Philippine defense budget saw a bit dipping share compared to the output amounting to Php 19.419 Trillion, but the overall defense budget trend still saw a significant increase, specifically to the allotments intended to the Revised AFP Modernization Program, as it is a first time for this program to have an appreciable amount as compared to the constant Php 25 Billion allotment that came before this fiscal year.

Speaking of that first time, the Revised AFP Modernization Program under the 2021 General Appropriations Act received at least Php 27 billion, a boost of at least Php 2 billion from the original allotments provided in the prior two (2) years within this discussion’s own parameter. 

Likewise, the allotments provided under the un-programmed appropriations for the Revised AFP Modernization Program also received their own increase, which is at Php 11 billion, or Php 6 billion higher than what is usually given.

This is also the year that the Philippine defense budget breached the Php 200 billion mark, whereby the allotments presented in the 2021 General Appropriations Act have at least Php 205.471 billion, as compared to the Php 191.744 billion allotments set aside for this sector under the 2020 General Appropriations Act. 

The increase reflects the increasing budgetary requirements of the Department of National Defense, specifically the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ operational, maintenance, and repair (MRO) requirements.

Going on the breakdown, a huge chunk of it, at least amounting to Php 199.415 billion, goes to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, with Php 97.625 billion of the allotment going to the Philippine Army. Both the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Air Force both have a respective share of the pie amounting to Php 30.203 billion and Php 31.552 billion, with the remaining part of the budget went to the AFP-Wide Service Support Units, with its total allotment of Php 40.034 billion.

The portion of the Php 40.034 billion allotted under the AFP-Wide Service Support Units is the Php 27 billion allotted for the Revised AFP Modernization Program, which received its increase as mentioned throughout this discussion. 

It ‌also forms the largest share for this portion under the General Headquarters of the AFP under the Capital Outlay cluster, while the remaining cluster has at least Php 6.445 billion for Personnel Services, and Php 6.128 billion for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses.

As expected, the largest share of the budget for all three (3) branches of the Armed Forces of the Philippines is for the Personnel Services or for the salaries and benefits of the personnel that have served in each of the branches, with the Philippine Army receiving Php 79.173 billion, the Philippine Air Force receiving Php 15.100 billion, and the Philippine Navy receiving Php 20.916 billion. The branches’ MOOE comes at around Php 15.787 billion, Php 14.899 billion, and Php 9.168 billion, respectively.

Now that the discussion of the breakdown of budgetary allotments for the Philippine defense from 2019 to 2021 fully presented, the next part of this discussion will be more theoretical in its tone, as the main highlight focuses more on the projected budgetary output for the Philippine defense, especially if the said years, based on the annual Gross Domestic Product, received at least 2% of the said economic parameter, and its effect to the Philippine defense programs, based on the prices of current military purchases.

THEORETICAL PROJECTIONS

The Philippine defense budget in this scenario ranges between Php 300 billion to almost Php 1 trillion for its defense expenditures if given the 2-5% GDP projections.

Now that the Philippine defense budgetary statistics with data from 2019 to 2021 as a parameter and the General Appropriations Act of the said fiscal periods being the basis for providing the actual percentage of the defense budget of the country compared to the Gross Domestic Product, this portion will delve on the theoretical realm of possibilities, notably on the scenario if the Philippine defense allotments comprise at least 2% or 5% of the Gross Domestic Product as the primary basis.

Based on the data provided above, the defense expenditures based on the 2% and 5% of the Gross Domestic Product comes higher, perhaps even twofold compared to the budget presented for the entire Department of National Defense from 2019 to 2021, and even 200 times to 300 times larger to what has allotted to the Revised AFP Modernization Program presented on the said three years, as the figure comes limited always at around Php 25 billion to Php 30 billion per annum at an average.

For the year 2019 as an example, the 2% share of the Gross Domestic Product that have set aside for defense based on the figures on the table above comes at around Php 390.141 billion, which is 2 times higher than the actual figure for the budget under the Department of National Defense amounting to Php 186.222 billion. 

Likewise, the 5% defense expenditure share in this scenario will render the Philippine defense budget an amount of Php 975.352 billion, a Php 25 billion difference from securing the Php 1 trillion mark.

Meanwhile, the defense expenditure figures for 2020, following the parameters, will give the Philippine defense budget allocations an increase of around Php 358.911 billion for the 2% share basis, and Php 897.277 billion for the 5% share basis. As usual, the actual budget under the 2020 General Appropriations Act for the Department of National Defense amounts to Php 196.744 billion, although the dip in the amounts in the theoretical scenario is noticeable given the global health concern throughout the year.

In the year 2021, the figures presented themselves as Php 388.380 billion for the 2% share of the Gross Domestic Product provided for Philippine defense expenditure in this theoretical scenario, and Php 970.951 billion for the 5% share, which are still lower than the 2019 figures presented as this said year comes as the country and the entire world still recovered from the global health concern that have occurred a year prior. Still, the figures presented are higher than the actual Php 216.471 billion budgetary figure.

The figures presented, as provided in this theoretical output, might give the Armed Forces of the Philippines an opportunity to improve its firepower and external defense-related projects, plans, and programs at a hyper-drive, as this enable each of the service branch of the Philippine military further increase the numbers of needed hardware purchased under both Horizon 2 and 3 phases of the Revised AFP Modernization Program, while improving existing facilities and building new ones to shelter the newly purchased capability.

Given the figures under this presentation, this will enable the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to quickly building up not only its big ticket acquisition projects of military hardware intended for addressing both domestic and foreign territorial defense related threats, but also to give opportunity to expand and improve its existing facilities, all in which going in line with its long-term plans, as this will come useful for the country to exercise its national interest in succeeding years to come.

IN CONCLUSION

The bicameral legislature has the final say on budgetary matters, including defense.
Pitz Defense Analysis file image.

The discussion as presented here is the full picture of the Philippine defense budgetary expenditures that have taken place within the said three (3) years as mentioned, which is from 2019 to 2021. 

This also means that there will be more of this to come as part of the growing topics to delve into regarding the broader scope of the functionalities of the Philippine defense topics, going beyond the usual talks on the recent military hardware that the Armed Forces of the Philippines is keen into buying on.

Discussing the budget that runs Philippine defense is really important to delve into, especially on the numbers that are running the actual expenditures presented by the executive branch of the government through the DBCC or the Development Budget Coordination Committee, which presents the proposed budget for the succeeding fiscal year before the bicameral plenaries of both the House of Representatives and Senate before it becomes the official General Appropriations Act for the year.

The defense spending for the said three (3) years in this discussion presented to be just limited to just 1% of the GDP or the Gross Domestic Product, which is a given for the government budget that always focuses on more pressing expenditures relating to social services such as additional infrastructures for connecting communities and making lives easier, or on education where it gives opportunity to the population to be more productive citizens as they prepare to be part of the country’s economy.

One keynote to point out is that the countries that the Philippines has a strong alliance with, like the United States, has a current policy that pushes its alliances to have a defense expenditure of at least two percent (2%) of the Gross Domestic Product, and since then have increased further to as high as five (5%) of the Gross Domestic Product that a country has produced in a fiscal period. Of course, there is a likelihood that the Philippines will not adhere to this scheme, citing its budget also allotted to other matters as mentioned.

Should the Philippines follow the increase of getting its defense spending to at least two percent (2%) or five percent (5)% of the Gross Domestic Product, there is a clear indicator that the Armed Forces of the Philippines can accomplish most of its acquisition objectives under the Revised AFP Modernization Program, specifically on both the Horizon 2 and the Re-Horizoned 3 timelines that its implementation phase might have gotten shorter than the current financial situation that all three military branches are dealing.

With the Php 2 trillion ten-year based Re-Horizon 3 now rolling, the increase of allocation on the defense spending clearly provides a large difference on its overall output, specifically on the timeline of accomplishing key acquisition projects and even getting several piecemeal projects like the acquisition of the Miguel Malvar-class frigate under the Corvette Acquisition Project accomplished by getting more than a pair of ships in one go, or even getting this F-16 Viper full package with ease.

In the long run, the Armed Forces of the Philippines might get the capability it needs under the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept or CADC, although the presented increase in this theoretical budget might have accomplished this concept sooner. 

Still, getting the projects realized depends on the country’s key policymakers, as the increasing tension in the Indo-Pacific region suffices as justification for an increase in defense spending, especially for a country like the Philippines that ensures its national interest.

(c) 2025 PDA.

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The NMESIS and the United States' Renewed Commitment in Philippine Defense

At the turn of the new administration that is sitting in the United States government at the time of this writing, there are a mix of uncertainties among the alliances relating to the commitment that the world's sole superpower has in keeping the current world order, particularly against countries that are up to challenge it. For the Philippines, a deployment of a new weapons system gives an assurance on its 'ironclad alliance' with the former.

US SECRETARY OF DEFENSE'S VISIT TO THE COUNTRY

The deployment of the NEMESIS anti-ship missile system is an interesting development for the US-Philippine relations.
Image Source.

From March 27 through March 28, 2025, United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visited the Philippines for an official visit, meeting with President Ferdinand R Marcos Jr and Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro, as part of his Indo-Pacific visit involving United States territory of Guam, and other Indo-Pacific country of Japan. 

This is SECDEF Hegseth’s first visit to an Asian country in the official status of his position, aiming to advance defense and security goals with the key officials of the Philippine government.

His visit to the country has the assurance for an ironclad alliance between both countries in mind, signifying that the Philippines receive that needed continuous support amidst the uncertainties surrounding the practical nature of commitments and relationships of the United States' official foreign policy. 

The continuity of this commitment from the Biden administration to the present Trump 2.0 administration is a needed assurance that the Philippine authorities needed to hear from the current United States government.

This visit comes with interesting tidbits as to the type of support that the Philippine government, specifically the Armed Forces of the Philippines, will receive from the United States as the result from this renewed cooperation between both countries, and the expectations as to the things the Philippines will give as a return of investment from this burgeoning relations between both countries. The type of support provided comes on top of increased troop deployments and rotations by United States forces in the country.

One interesting tidbit highlighted and also the primary topic of discussion is the likely deployment of the United States military’s newest shore based anti-ship missile system, coming with an acronym “NMESIS” (pronounced ‘nemesis’), which stands for “Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System”. This system will have its debut deployment into the country in the 2025 Joint Exercise Balikatan, which will take place from April 21 up to May 9, 2025.

The debut deployment of the shore-based anti-ship missile system will go with its extended deployment of the country even after the 2025 Joint Exercise Balikatan gets concluded, going similarly with what the United States forces did with the Typhon Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile system deployed in the country. Both systems aforementioned will help the Philippine forces practice and share knowledge on the operations and other aspects of its usage and deployment.

Of course, its deployment always comes with deterrence in mind, as this has raised on an interview relating the effect that the NMESIS anti-ship missile system has for the overall Philippine defense deterrence, of which the response into the matter also encompass the greater aspects of the country’s deterrence, which includes the ‘ironclad’ alliance that the Philippines has with the United States, along with the current capabilities that the Armed Forces of the Philippines has, to date.

As the deployment of the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System or NMESIS gets highlighted in the aspects of the greater scope of current Philippine defense posture and its implication in the current order of the Indo-Pacific region, the discussion relating to this topic will delve primarily on the system’s development, geopolitical implications, and its specifications, giving a full picture that intertwines geopolitical and Philippine defense aspects of the system’s deployment in the country.

WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT

The NMESIS' missile munitions will be the Naval Strike Missile from Kongsberg, the same anti-ship missile found onboard United States Navy ships.
Image Source.

To understand better the development of the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System or NMESIS platform, it is worth to focus more on its munitions first, before focusing on other areas like its launcher and other relevant parts of the system. 

For starters, the munition the system has primarily composed of the Kongsberg-developed and produced Naval Strike Missile (NSM) system, originated in the Scandinavian country of Norway and is now a mainstay anti-ship missile munition of the United States Navy.

In Southeast Asia, the countries that will probably come up with the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) systems munition will be the southern neighboring countries of both Malaysia and Indonesia, whereby the former will use it to arm both of its Maharaja Lela-class Frigates (Littoral Combat Ships or LCS) and its older Lekiu-class Frigates, and the latter will use it to arm its Klewang-class Fast Attack Crafts. The Philippine Navy uses the South Korean SSM-700K Haeseong ‘C-Star’ anti-ship missile munition as its mainstay solution.

The missile system’s development started way back in the late 1980s, when Kongsberg started into conceptualization and addressing the limitations of Norway’s first indigenously made anti-ship missile, which is the Penguin anti-ship missile. It then undertook formalization into a full-scale development contract in 1996, costing at around US$100 Million and the timeframe expected to have at least six (6) years. Serial production of the missile then started on June 29, 2007.

For both the United States Navy and Marine Corps, the responsibility regarding the production of the Naval Strike Missile System lies with the country’s military defense firm Raytheon, which likely included the ones intended for the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System or NMESIS platforms deployed for the 2025 Balikatan Exercise purposes. As the missile munition’s details got discussed, let us now delve into the next part, which is on the missile launcher itself.

The missile launcher itself is a product made by a US-based defense company Oshkosh, named “ROGUE Fires Carrier”, itself derived from the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle or JLTV, a multipurpose vehicle currently used by the United States Armed Forces that shares similar design to the M-ATV Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles or MRAP vehicles that the same defense company supplied to the Armed Forces. The similarity of its chassis eases the logistics chain on its mobility uses with the commonality of its spare parts bulk.

As for the JLTV’s chassis development, it started way back 2012 under the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program pushed by a joint modernization partnership between the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps, designed to replace several of its aging High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle or HMMWV (colloquially known as the Humvee) vehicles. Since then, it has become the mainstay platform used by the said two (2) military branches of the United States Military.

With the details now provided on both the Naval Strike Missile and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) derived ROGUE Fires Carrier missile launcher, the next point on this discussion will now delve on its geopolitical uses that relates to the latest development on its deployment to the Philippines as part of the Joint Exercise Balikatan 2025, and how the extended deployment of the units in the country helps deter threats from a regional adversary like China.

GEOPOLITICAL IMPLICATIONS

Here is the potential site deployment of the NMESIS anti-ship platform during the Exercise Balikatan 2025.
From Orion Intel.

As the deployment of the NMESIS missile launcher units deployed in the country comes as part of the growing alliance between the United States and the Philippines, the actions taken always come with geopolitical implications in mind, particularly in the dynamics relating to the stability of the Indo-Pacific region at large. Of course, regional powers like China always come to mind, particularly to the areas in the country that the NMESIS will probably get deployed.

One likely location that the NMESIS platform gets deployed is in the area near Northern Luzon, particularly in the island group of Batanes, a Philippine province nearest to the island country of Taiwan that China desires to reunite under the communist red banner of the mainland. 

This is crucially important, as China has plans on blockading the said island country being part of its invasion purposes, with multiple drills already accomplished by the People’s Liberation Army as part of this worrying push.

Just the deployment of the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) platforms in Batanes already undermines China’s own adventurism against Taiwan, particularly that securing the Bashi channel near Batanes will put any Chinese ships traversing in the area or the ones taking part in the blockading activities into harm. 

Still, the Philippine government has this deployment as merely part of the bilateral exercise between them and the United States, emphasizing more on interoperability drills.

Another detail to point on is how crucial the deployment of the NMESIS anti-ship platform is for the First Island Chain in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly with the goals of containing Chinese aggression into the waters off the coast. For context, the First Island Chain comprises countries of Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines, of which it stretches from the northern part of the Japanese territorial domain down to the Philippines’ southernmost part.

The interoperability that the NMESIS anti-ship platform might provide to the Philippine Armed Forces from their counterparts in the United States military might give insights for the former in the repair, maintenance, and operational aspects of the platform deployed by the latter, particularly for consideration into its purchase as the former currently embarks on its modernization program, aiming to provide the needed credible defense posture that the country needs for territorial defense purposes.

Ultimately, the extended deployment of the anti-ship missile system in the country will provide an increased deterrence for its own defense, in which it adds to the systems that the United States military has in the country, with the other being the strategically important deployment of the Typhon Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile of the United States Army. Both systems deployed in the country showcase the Philippines’ importance as a strategic geographic location in the Indo-Pacific that can deter Chinese expansionism.

As the impact and geopolitical implication of the NMESIS anti-ship platform just covered as part of this entry, the next portion of this topic will now cover the specifications and other features of both the Kongsberg-made Naval Strike Missile (the munition onboard the anti-ship missile unit) and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle derived ROGUE Fires Launcher, itself being an unmanned platform that relies primarily on the remote inputs of its operator, even on operations involving the launching of its missiles.

SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS

Here are the main attributes of a Naval Strike Missile munition,  which is a primary armament of the NMESIS anti-ship platform. 
From Kongsberg, through this image source.

This topic will not be complete if not with the complete discussion about the system specification of what defines a Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System or NMESIS platform that the United States Armed Forces field throughout the Joint Exercise Balikatan 2025, and eventually going beyond that bilateral exercise phase. 

Once again, the discussion will cover two (2) parts, the missile munition, which is the Naval Strike Missile, and the unmanned launcher version of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle or JLTV.

At a glance, the Naval Strike Missile has the following technical data based on what the presentation provided on the manufacturer’s website. Breaking it down, the Naval Strike Missile has a subsonic speed of Mach 0.7 to 0.9. 

For context, the supersonic BrahMos missile that the Philippine Marine Corps received and the Philippine Army aims to have, has the speed of at least Mach 2.0 to 2.8 (varying to the used cruising altitude), giving the latter an advantage related to this speed metric.

Despite having a subsonic speed, the Naval Strike Missile has the advantage of its maneuverability, as its capability in having an advanced sea-skimming maneuvers gives challenges to the opposition force’s onboard air defense system in intercepting this advanced munition. 

This thing similarly goes with the SSM-700K Haeseong ‘C-Star’ missiles found aboard both the Philippine Navy’s Jose Rizal-class and Miguel Malvar-class frigates, which actually has a speed of around Mach 0.85.

Adding information for the Naval Strike Missile, it has the weight of 407 kilograms or 897 lbs, a length of 3.96 meters or 156 inches, and a total range of around 185 kilometers to 250 kilometers. For comparison, the BrahMos missiles that the Philippine Marine Corps currently have come with a total range of around 290 kilometers, while the SSM-700K Haeseong 'C-Star' missile has a total estimated range of around 180 to 200 kilometers, at par with the said Kongsberg-developed product.

After talking about the Naval Strike Missile munition that the NMESIS anti-ship platform uses in eliminating its targets, the next component to discuss is the launcher platform and other parts of the system, especially with the chassis and features that considers as an unmanned variant of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle from Oshkosh. 

The ROGUE Fires Carrier is just one of the multiple variants of the design provided by Oshkosh, with its chassis shared with the MRAP variant widely used in the United States Military.

At a glance, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle or the JLTV that the NMESIS launcher bases itself from has an operational range of 400 miles or at around 643.78 kilometers, on-road speed of 65 miles per hour or 104.61 kilometers per hour, and a maximum weight of around 15,500 lbs or 7,030.68 kilograms, or 7.031 metric tons. 

This means that the vehicle comes as light enough that it is transportable by any cargo aircraft that is likely serving both the United States and the Philippines, such as a C-130 Hercules aircraft.

The light portability of the ROGUE Fires Carrier, plus the firepower capability possessed by the Naval Strike Missile as an anti-ship munition, makes the NMESIS anti-ship platform a formidable system that comes as ideal for deployment into ideal chokepoints like the Bashi Channel, which comes as a crucial part of the containment under the First Island Chain. As part of an integrated network chain of military units, the system relies on inputs from other surveillance units for its targeting operations.

ENDING NOTE

A U.S. Marine Corps Navy-Marine Corps Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System assigned to Medium-Range Missile Battery, 3d Marine Littoral Combat Team, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division is staged at Basco, Philippines, April 26, 2025.
United States Marine Corps Photo

Like the Typhon Mid-Range Capability Missile System that ever since deployed to the Philippines from 2024, the new Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System or NMESIS anti-ship platform come as strategic in its usage, as its design as a mobile, coastal-based anti-ship platform added up to the complex situation in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly relating into adding the deterrence in areas part of the First Island Chain like the Philippines.

Its deployment to the Philippines as part of the Joint Exercise Balikatan 2025 provides an opportunity to the troops of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, taking part in the activities to learn and to get an interesting insight into the operational and maintenance requirements of the NMESIS platform, which is helpful not only for interoperability of units among both the Philippine Military and its United States equivalent, but also on familiarity on its usage should the former opts for purchasing the system later on.

To recall, the NMESIS platform uses the Naval Strike Missile munition, which is a product from the Danish defense company Kongsberg and is currently a mainstream munition used by the United States Navy, replacing the older and legendary Harpoon missile system. 

This is different to both the BrahMos and SSM-700K Haeseong ‘C-Star’ anti-ship missile systems that the Philippine Marine Corps and the Philippine Navy, its parent unit, uses on its coastal-based and ship-based units, respectively.

And just like the Typhon Mid-Range Capability missile system deployed in the country since 2024, the NMESIS platform provides another layer of deterrence for the Philippines’ own defense under the alliance arrangement between the country and the United States, particularly that both countries have recently expanded its bilateral defense ties that correlates to the adding up of military sites provided under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement or EDCA.

The deployment of both advanced systems from the United States not only adds to the worry of the Chinese relating to its planned conquest of the island nation of Taiwan, but it also adds up to the dynamics of the geopolitical situation in the Indo-Pacific which, should they choose it, might put the deployment of the systems in the Philippines in consideration as another potential target. Such aggression puts the premise for the Philippines to tap other like-minded nations and alliances to establish deterrence.

Of course, the deployment of the US-made, coast-based anti-ship missile come as simply an ongoing development on the ever-improving defense ties between the Philippines and the United States, as the Philippine Military on its own has recently received another battery of BrahMos supersonic anti-ship missiles from India intended for the Philippine Marine Corps, and the Philippine Navy receives its first fully armed frigate, the BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-06) that will get fit with its own SSM-700K anti-ship missiles later on.

In a final note, the deployment of the NMESIS anti-ship platform in a bilateral exercise with the Philippines is a sign of ever-growing bilateral defense relations that the country has with the United States, particularly in facing a geopolitical situation, with China aiming to dominate the affairs of the Indo-Pacific region. 

The Philippines play a crucial role in this ongoing situation, in which it can maximize its strategic location not only to the benefit of the alliance but also in improving its Armed Forces to new heights.

(c) 2025 PDA.

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Forging the Philippine Local Defense Industry (SRDP and R.A. 12024)

A country usually comes with a decent armed force that implements its national policy of preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its domain, while ensuring the best interest of its citizenry by securing the entire nation's land, sea, and air domain against multiple threats. And with this usually comes with investment into securing sophisticated and effective military hardware that comes from other countries that help developed and produce these tools, with instances adhering to the specifications of a military end-user.

And as the military capabilities grow, so does the desire of securing the materiel supply chain, going to the rationale that the country has its own defense industry that produces the tools that its own armed forces require. The Philippines has provided that significant step of improving its own defense industry through this important piece of legislation that will make it possible.

AS REPORTED IN THE NEWS

The assembly of the ninth (9th) Acero-class (Shaldag V) Fast Attack Interdiction Craft come as part of the Philippines' desire for Self Reliance Defense Posture.
Image screen grab from Naval Sea Systems Command video.

Self-reliance is a key for a country to improve and enhance its armed forces, without relying too much on alliances and suppliers originated from foreign countries for its defense, as the responsibility of the national government to foster and improve its local defense industry not only gives the country its capacity to sustain its logistical and production requirements in an event of a conflict, but also in bolstering its economy should its defense industry opts to export military hardware later on. 

This is the aim of the newly enacted Republic Act 12024 or the Self Reliance Defense Posture Revitalization Act, of which President Ferdinand R Marcos Jnr signed the legislation into an actual law on October 8, 2024. 

At a glance, this encourages the country to produce its military hardware of various types, supporting the Armed Forces of the Philippines with locally made weaponry, and revitalizing the country’s defense industry that contributes to its overall economic development.

The effort itself will probably face its hurdles, specifically that the Philippines itself does not have a matured industry that can produce advanced weaponry, or a defense industry that goes beyond the manufacturing of firearms and ammunition like the ones that a local company like Armscor Global Defense (formerly Arms Corporation of the Philippines) does on its core business portfolio. The law itself, from this point on, serves as a foundation for the defense industry's development.

Apparently, the enactment of the law gives preference to local companies like Armscor Global Defense in procuring military hardware, with the SRDP Revitalization Act being a complementary law to the other newly enacted legislation, which is the New Government Procurement Act (NGPA) or the Republic Act 12009. As the Revised AFP Modernization Program, under the Republic Act 10349, sets into motion, there is a likelihood of local companies expressing their interest in joining this new type of industry.

Given that setting up the country’s defense industry is relatively new in the Philippine economy, it might be the chance for local industries to forge partnerships with foreign defense partners in setting up local production facilities in the country, taking the advantage of the law’s preference on locally made military hardware and materiel that the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other relevant agencies needs in their respective duties and responsibilities.

On this topic, the discussion will delve more on the key salient points of the Self Reliance Defense Posture Revitalization Act, along with the reported developments that revolve around the increasing defense relationships that the Philippines have with other like-minded countries that might have this type of partnership in mind. This comes as the country’s defense capabilities are needing a boost amidst an increasing aggression by the red country in the Indo-Pacific Region.

The first point provides a summarized writeup regarding the provisions and technicalities that have included in the law, providing an insight as to the type and scope of how and what will the Philippine defense industry might look like in the succeeding years, along with perks and benefits that might have benefit any business entity that sees interest in taking part within this industry, while boosting the country’s economy that produces additional jobs for the citizenry to join and contribute in the nation’s overall development.

KEY SALIENT POINTS

The Philippine Navy's Multipurpose Attack Crafts (MPACs) counts as locally produced vessels from Propmech, in partnership with a Taiwanese entity.
File Image.

The Republic Act 12014 or the Self Reliance Defense Posture Revitalization Act introduced measures and guidelines that will help develop and enhance the local Philippine defense industry, particularly with the salient provisions that have come with the legislation and enactment of this law for implementation. 

Each of the provisions at hand comes with a range of benefits and organizational structures in hand, all aiming to have a guiding principle for the country to develop and mature its own defense production.

First key salient point is the establishment of the Office of the Undersecretary for Defense Technology Research and Industry Development or ‘DTRID’ under Sections 4 and 5, an attached unit within the Department of National Defense that has the responsibility to the full implementation of the Republic Act 12014, and the compliance of any deals, plans, programs, and development partnerships under the Self Reliance Defense Posture arrangement. More emphasis on this office’s scope on the next sub-topic.

The second key salient point is on the National Defense Industry under Section 6 of the law, of which it clearly expresses the government’s role in supporting and developing the country’s defense industry with the following provisions, such as giving local companies preference on both procurement and technical support on research and development, together with securing foreign-sourced materials if the same is not available in the country. This provision and the next one emphasize the need for tech transfers.

The next provision, under Section 7 of the law, points to the Self-Reliance Defense Posture program itself, of which the promotion of the technology transfer gets highly emphasized, along with the development and securing the country’s access on resilient supply chains of highly essential and critical technologies necessary for its defense industry to flourish. Development and modernization of government arsenal, military bases, camps, and shipyards, come included in this law as a complementary measure, compatible with the measures and provisions of the Revised AFP Modernization Program or R.A. 10349.

This means that private entities, particularly with foreign technologies not available in the country, might go into development partnerships later on, effectively providing technology transfer that enables these local companies to supply the same to the end-user like the Department of National Defense, using local production facilities and Filipino workforce to accomplish a defense materiel contract while contributing to the economic well-being of this employed workforce and the economy at-large.

There are more provisions on this law that might help the country develop its own technology, through the Section 9 or the Development of Technology and Systems to Counter Unconventional Threats that address CBRNE and cybersecurity matters, Section 10 that addresses emerging advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced military equipment, and Section 11 for securing military and defense-related technology patents through the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) property lane.

In the salient points presented come the required guidelines that enable the efforts of establishing and improving the Self Reliance Defense Posture or SRDP efforts of the government even more significant, particularly with the interest groups and current bilateral defense relationships that the Philippine government has with other countries might enable to give a bit of support, particularly in areas that will help improve the capabilities of the Philippine Armed Forces and the local defense industry at-large.

DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT (DTRID) OFFICE

At one point, Austal shipbuilding promoted its Offshore Patrol Vessels with local production perks, which should be an advantage for Self Reliance Defense Posture efforts.
From Austal.

One crucial provision for enforcing the Self Reliance Defense Posture Revitalization Act is the establishment of the Defense Technology Research and Industry Development or DTRID Office, itself being a unit under the Department of National Defense. At a glance, this will probably be the Philippine equivalent to the South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration or DAPA, or the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA.

Responsible to the enforcement and monitoring of its application in military and defense-related industrial development, the Office of the Undersecretary of the DTRID, under the Section 5 of the law, has the function that ranges from adopting a defense policy in establishing defense stockpiles to sustain defense operations during the state of emergency which is pertaining to storing ammunitions (Section 5-A), to an advisory recommendation on policies dealing with the National Defense Industry (Section 5-H).

One important highlight of the office’s duties and responsibilities as stipulated in the law’s own provisions is the promotion of having Technology Transfer for local industrial production purposes. This means that any acquisition project that the Philippine military pushes in the upcoming years under the Revised AFP Modernization Program might need this provision that prompts foreign suppliers to comply, which is ideal if the deal comes with bulk orders that takes the economies of scale into consideration.

As a formulator and implementer of the policies within the scope of the Self Reliance Defense Posture Revitalization Act, the DTRID office will be the one who will craft and implement the Implementing Rules and Regulations or IRR of this law, providing the sets of guidelines and provisions that will set direction and limitation for any future defense industrial development that may partake for the country’s burgeoning defense acquisition and industrial efforts.

Of course, the guidelines set by the Office of the Undersecretary of the Defense Technology Research And Industry Development will need to align with other established laws, such as the Republic Act No. 11293 or the "Philippine Innovation Act," along with the provisions set under the Revised AFP Modernization Program or the Republic Act No. 10349 as part of its ongoing efforts to modernize and enhance its overall capabilities into the current standards.

Aside from promoting Tech Transfers and partnerships on research and development, DTRID also promotes the idea of exporting locally made materiel overseas, especially if the Philippine Defense Industry itself gets matured through time through the full supervision and monitoring of the office. 

While the idea is currently far-fetched from the time this writeup gets published, the guidelines provided give precedent that enables the future Philippine Defense Industry to get a significant portion of the global defense market.

With the establishment of the Defense Technology Research and Industry Development Office as an attached unit of the Department of National Defense, the Self-Reliance Defense Posture efforts will now have an office that oversees, monitors, and promotes the local production, research, development, and eventually the export of defense materiel made in the Philippines, while nourishing and improving the Philippine Defense Industry as one key field of the country’s economy, alongside agriculture and office services.

SRDP ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND PROPOSALS

Isuzu Philippines, F. Cura Industries, and FMC Motors, will provide locally produced light carriers for the Philippine Army's own requirements. 
Image from Overland Kings, Instagram.

In this portion of the article that discusses the Self Reliance Defense Posture efforts of the Philippine government through the Department of National Defense regarding the country’s local production of military hardware intended to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other relevant agencies, the points will delve more on the recent accomplishments, reports, plans, and programs that aims to achieve the vision that the Republic Act 12024 tries to achieve.

One recent development is the presentation of a Troop Carrier Light Truck concept likely for the Philippine Army’s use, of which the winning bidder for this project is a partnership of local business entities between Isuzu Philippines, FMC Trucks, and F. Cura Industries. 

There is a likelihood that under the new SRDP law, this partnership will get the preferential treatment in awarding of contracts, which will help the Armed Forces of the Philippines improve its capabilities with locally produced military materiel.

The advantage of securing orders from local business entities like the partnership aforementioned is with the readiness and availability of spare parts for the continuous repair and maintenance support of the military hardware such as a local Troop Carrier Light Truck derived from Isuzu’s N-series of trucks, in which all of its components can get locally sourced, with commonality shared with the civilian version of the trucks commonly seen traversing on Philippine roads.

Another development relating to Self Reliance Defense Posture efforts is on the local production and assembly of the Acero-class Fast Attack Interdiction Crafts - Missile (FAIC-M) vessels of the Philippine Navy, whereby the final units produced under the first batch got locally produced in the service branch’s Cavite Yard. There is a likelihood that the plans for the next batch of the Israeli-developed fast attack interdiction crafts will also have its production done in the country.

The local production of the Philippine Navy’s Acero-class Fast Attack Interdiction Crafts - Missile (FAIC-M) vessels, of which being the country’s derivative of the Shaldag V patrol vessels marketed by Israel Shipyards Limited, come as one of an excellent example for the country’s Self Reliance Defense Posture efforts, of which the contract for the first batch of vessels come with the provision for the Technology Transfer that enabled the Cavite Yard arrangements on production and assembly of future FAIC-M vessel orders.

Another example is with the Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation or PADC, whereby they locally assemble the RV-10 and RV-12 aircraft, primarily catering to local flying schools that will hone local pilots into having the skills in flying, taking off, and landing an aircraft. 

With this development, there is the likelihood that this might expand into providing the same to government agencies like the Philippine Armed Forces and the Philippine Coast Guard, both to train their pilots and for extra surveillance operations.

The three (3) presented examples are a clear evidence of an ongoing effort related to the Self Reliance Defense Posture or SRDP, especially now that the law related to this posture has now enacted and will probably receive added support in the upcoming years along with the ongoing efforts relating to the Revised AFP Modernization Program. This means that the overall push to have a matured Philippine Defense Industry is in the right direction, eventually helping the Philippine military source its hardware locally.

LOOKING FORWARD

The BRP Tagbanua LC-296 (image above) is a locally produced Philippine Navy ship.
(c) Philippine Fleet.

Upon the enactment of the Self Reliance Defense Posture Revitalization Act or the Republic Act 12024, the Philippine Defense Industry sees a chance to have a head start with the law being its foundation, which will eventually promote and fostering the local research, development, and production of military materials that is proudly made in the Philippines. It aims to improve the country’s military capabilities, while bolstering a portion of its economy and providing sufficient jobs to the local citizenry.

Local Philippine firms and joint development partnerships are sprouting from the prospect of improving the country’s own defense industry, where countries like Japan aims to establish a comprehensive framework that not only enables them to export military materiel to the Philippines to improve the capabilities of the country’s armed forces, but also in helping the country improving its defense industry, addressing the limitations stipulated by Japan’s law on defense exports.

As the law complements the guidelines and provisions pushed by both the Revised AFP Modernization Program or the Republic Act 10349, and the New Government Procurement Act or the Republic Act 12009, there might be a likely trend that the future acquisition projects of each branch belonging to the Armed Forces of the Philippines will include provisions that mentions Technology Transfer or local production of military hardware, both are primary aims of the newly enacted law.

With the preference pointing to local companies, this might encourage other local firms to secure a joint venture with foreign defense entities to secure a contract with the Armed Forces of the Philippines at a certain project, both aiming to get the needed tools and materiel that the country has, while the locally sourced one's gets integrated on the final product that a local company makes according to the specifications as part of the requirements pushed by the end-user.

Through the years, the Philippines always has the potential to foster and improve its Self Reliance Defense Posture even before the enactment that will set this effort into an official government policy, especially with the endeavors accomplished by various local entities in the past. 

One notable example was with the Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation’s license production of Norman Britten Islander Aircraft for various government entities like the Philippine Coast Guard.

Then there’s the recent accomplishment that have not mentioned in this writeup that will add to the displayed potential for an improved and matured Philippine Defense Industry, such as the Philippine Navy’s BUHAWI Project for an automated gun mount or a Remote-Controlled Weapons System or RCWS, or the success brought by production of the largest locally produced naval asset that serves the service branch to date, which is the BRP Tagbanua (LC-296, see image above).

Ultimately, the enactment of the Republic Act 12024 provides a promising future for the efforts revolving around the Self Reliance Defense Posture as pushed by the Department of National Defense, as a growing Philippine Defense Industry will decrease the country’s reliance from importing foreign-made military hardware in the country, while assuring its tip-top shape performance with a robust facility on maintaining and repair the purchased platforms, while having an ensured logistics chain of its own.

(c) 2025 PDA.

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