Duterte OKs AFP modernization shopping list for Horizon 2

President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the Armed Forces modernization program’s shopping list for Horizon 2, a defense official said Wednesday.

Defense spokesperson Dir. Arsenio Andolong said the list of projects will be implemented from 2018 to 2022, with a budget of about P300 billion.

“The Department of National Defense and the Department of Budget and Management will discuss how to fund these projects,” he told reporters.

“The second horizon is supposed to be our transition from internal security operations to territorial defense so we’re somewhere in between,” he added.

Items in the list for the Philippine Air Force include multi-role fighters, radar systems, light and medium lift aircraft, heavy lift helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters (attack and combat utility), special mission and long-range patrol aircraft.

For the Philippine Navy, the list includes corvettes, submarines, amphibious assault vehicles, anti-submarine helicopters, attack crafts, medium lift helicopters and multi-role vessels.

Andolong said they will also acquire additional frigates, on top of the two missile-capable frigates it had earlier purchased.

Towed and self-propelled howitzers, multiple launch rocket systems, armored recovery vehicles, five support vehicles, tactical radios, ground mobility equipment (light, medium, heavy), individual weapons, crew-served weapons, and night-fighting equipment are also expected for the Philippine Army.

The revised AFP modernization program is divided into three horizons. The first was implemented from 2013 to 2017, the second is from 2018 to 2022, while the third is from 2023 to 2028.

Some of the big-ticket projects for the First Horizon were the 12 FA-50 fighter planes, two missile-capable frigates, assault amphibious vehicles and eight combat utility helicopters.  /muf