MANILA — The Philippine Navy (PN) will be getting the lion’s share of the ongoing Horizon Two of the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Monday.
“I’m looking at our next five year acquisition program and I can see that the lion’s share will be going to the Navy, next is the Air Force, third is the Army,” Lorenzana said.
Horizon Two is scheduled from 2018 to 2022.
In the pipeline for the PN are two missile-firing frigates, now undergoing construction at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea and are expected for delivery between 2020 and 2021; two AgustaWestland AW-159 “Wildcat” anti-submarine helicopters, which are scheduled for delivery in 2019; and three more Spike-ER missile-armed multi-purpose assault craft, which are now undergoing bidding.
Lorenzana said allocating more modernization projects for the PN is only correct as huge gaps remain in its capabilities.
“I have always believed that the Philippines being an island nation should have a good Navy, a credible Navy, in fact looking back through our history, since we became independent, the strongest armed services in the Armed Forces (should) be the Philippine Navy because our country is an island nation,” he added.
Neglect and the military’s heavy involvement in counter-insurgency campaigns and other land security problems have prevented the PN from gaining its proper niche, Lorenzana said. (Priam Nepomuceno/PNA)
