Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Wednesday that the Navy’s live-fire test of its newly acquired missile capability was not deliberately timed to coincide with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the country.
“We could have done this before or after [Xi’s visit] but we found the right timing. The weather was good,” Lorenzana said.
“So it is just a coincidence. There’s no purpose to show it off [to China]. It’s [of] very modest capability,” he added.
Duterte not available
In an interview with reporters following the Navy’s capability demonstration off Limay, Bataan, Lorenzana said the live-fire missile exercise had long been scheduled but was postponed several times because of President Rodrigo Duterte’s schedule.
When it was finally scheduled to match the President’s availability, the chief executive asked him to go in his stead, the defense chief said.
Lorenzana said he was very impressed with the Navy’s capability demonstration of its multipurpose attack craft.
P10 million each
“For a ship to hit the target while moving … I was really impressed, no ammunition was wasted. They all hit the target,” he said of the Israel-made missile, which has a range of up to 8 kilometers and costs P10 million.
Lorenzana said the live-fire exercise intended to convey the message that our Navy was improving and acquiring more equipment and assets to keep up with its counterparts in Southeast Asia.
The missile capability was meant to deter encroachments, not necessarily in the West Philippine Sea, but “to neutralize pirates in the Sulu Sea where kidnapping incidents are high.”