Philippines Army Discussions and Updates

[OPSSG]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1316508707144912897

For armoured or mechanised infantry units, 81mm mortars are to light in their weight of fire and too short ranged. Conversion to 120mm is the right way to go, for its weapons effects.

Do you have the source for this?

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1319656853798670336

The Elbit brochure details for a light tank and it’s FCS are here. Other parts of the discussion are Israeli DT member opinions on upgradability of certain legacy tanks as platforms, which needs no sources. Hope this helps.

 

[Beholder]

deleted

 

[tonnyc]

TURKEY and PHILIPPINES’ new defence project is from FNSS - EDR Magazine

4 January 2021 – Under the contract signed between FNSS and Department of National Defense (DND), Philippines which entered into

www.edrmagazine.eu

Basically FNSS will make one-man turrets of various calibers for the Philippine Army and help them put the turrets on their vehicles. FNSS already has the SABER turret which can be armed with 25 autocannon and I expect modifying that turret for 30 mm or 40 mm is well within FNSS' capability. The difficult part is with larger caliber guns. They may have some development projects for large caliber guns but I haven't heard of anything yet. Companies tend to tout their successes loudly because that's part of marketing, so the lack of news means they're pretty far away from ready yet.

That said, the PA can easily spend the next few years upgunning their light armoured vehicles with autocannons while waiting to see how the large caliber gun situation develops, so congratulations to both of them.

 

[STURM]

A very interesting discussion about a little known Philippines army unit which played a major role in the Zamboanga Siege and Marawi. The guest speaker wrote a book about the unit and goes into interesting detail about the unit’s participation in the Zamboanga Siege and Marawi. Urban warfare gained at Zamboanga later probes useful at Marawi; for the unit and army as a whole. He also goes into detail about the long range sniper kills at Marawi and about a Norinco rifle which initially nobody wanted to use but later proved its worth.

With the possible exception of Myanmar; the Philippines has the army which has seen the most combat in the region; starting with the Huk rebellion; followed by the “civil war” against the MNLF: followed in turn with a king standing campaign against the NPA, MILF and groups such as BIFF, ASG and others.

 

[koxinga]

Notice of Award_NOA - PA Ballistic Helmet.pdf (dnd.gov.ph)

47,584 helmets for PA by MKU

 

[koxinga]

With the possible exception of Myanmar; the Philippines has the army which has seen the most combat in the region; starting with the Huk rebellion; followed by the “civil war” against the MNLF: followed in turn with a king standing campaign against the NPA, MILF and groups such as BIFF, ASG and others.

The big picture is the Philippines have not been able to truly defeat any of the insurgent groups. One might argue political factors, corruption etc, but Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia had faced and defeated communist insurgencies in their early history where they were equally under developed. It is telling that many of these insurgents are armed with weapons either captured from the PA or sold on the blackmarket by corrupt soldiers.
There are indeed brave soldiers and units that are carrying the load but enough of them that are not.

 

[STURM]

The big picture is the Philippines have not been able to truly defeat any of the insurgent groups.

That may be true but it's worth noting that although Malaya keeps getting mentioned as a example of a counter insurgency campaign which was successfully implemented; the Huk rebellion remains little known. After a very rough period the Huks were defeated. Prior to that it enjoyed widespread support in Luzon, Mindanao and the Visayas and controlled large parts of the country.

With regards to "less developed" in the early years note that Malaysia's government had stronger control over the country; in contrast with the Philipines where federal control was weak in many parts of the country. On top of that the MILF and MNLF had widespread support from local communities.

Singapore had a communist problem but I'm not aware of it having an insurgency problem per see.

but Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia had faced and defeated communist insurgencies in their early history where they were equally under developed.

Granted but the circumstances faced there were different. Indonesia in the first decade of independence faced a major problem from nationalist groups in Sulawesi and Sumatra: they were well armed and had local.support. Malaya in the 1st and 2nd Emergency faced insurgents which had little foreign or local support and were poorly armed. On top of that the communists were from the Chinese minority group. It's often forgotten that Malaysia also faced an insurgency problem in East Malaysia.

is telling that many of these insurgents are armed with weapons either captured from the PA or sold on the blackmarket by corrupt soldiers

And weapons which were captured or obtained from different sources. Note that as the economy improved so did payscales; in general the average PA soldier is unlike his compatriots in the 1970's and 1980's. Morale is much higher now and there are far less cases of weapons being sold.

 

[STURM]

There are indeed brave soldiers and units that are carrying the load but enough of them that are not.

I highly recommend this book. It has detailed info on the campaign against the ASG and the MILF but more interestingly [to me at least ] it has info on the fighting which took place in the 1970's and 1980's against the MNLF; as well as against the NPA.

A online source which had derailed info on past campaigns was ACIG. Most people are aware that the Philippines has had a long standing insurgency problem involving a number of groups but apart from the usual widely known stuff like corruption, the poor performance of some units, etc, there is in general a lack greater understanding on these campaigns; a lot of assumptions are also made. This is partly due to a lack of reliable widely available reporting on the subject.

Another campaign which remains little known is the Huk rebellion - in contrast to the widely known Malaya campaign. At one point the Huks controlled large parts of the country but over time the Philippines [with American advice and support - counter insurgency buffs will know the name Edward Lansdale] came up an effective military strategy tied in with a economic/political element which defeated the Huks.

 

[koxinga]

ASCODII Sabrah Light Tank with their Armour division.

Looks like a single unit, probably delivered early for user acceptance testing and to meet contractual obligations. No news of the other asset (Pandur II wheeled gun system). High side profile.

Armor Pambato Division

LOOK: Armor Division Commander Major General Facundo Palafox IV shows to the media the newly delivered ASCODII Sabrah Light Tank and ACV300. Source: PIA-Tarlac Liana Barela/PIA 3...

www.facebook.com

 

[koxinga]

TURKEY and PHILIPPINES’ new defence project is from FNSS - EDR Magazine

4 January 2021 – Under the contract signed between FNSS and Department of National Defense (DND), Philippines which entered into

www.edrmagazine.eu

Basically FNSS will make one-man turrets of various calibers for the Philippine Army and help them put the turrets on their vehicles. FNSS already has the SABER turret which can be armed with 25 autocannon and I expect modifying that turret for 30 mm or 40 mm is well within FNSS' capability. The difficult part is with larger caliber guns. They may have some development projects for large caliber guns but I haven't heard of anything yet. Companies tend to tout their successes loudly because that's part of marketing, so the lack of news means they're pretty far away from ready yet.

That said, the PA can easily spend the next few years upgunning their light armoured vehicles with autocannons while waiting to see how the large caliber gun situation develops, so congratulations to both of them.

Looks like they went with the smaller 12.7mm

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1618950083562860545

 

[Big_Zucchini]

Looks like they went with the smaller 12.7mm

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1618950083562860545

They sourced 25mm turrets from Elbit in their cheapest variants.

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

It seems Philippine army plan to order and deploy five BrahMos batteries for coastal defense roles. The Philippine Navy already ordered three batteries of BrahMos for use by the Philippine Marine Corps for coastal defence.

Philippines to Acquire HIMARS, More BrahMos Missiles in Coming Years

The Philippine Army looks to American HIMARS and Indian BrahMos missiles amid its shift to territorial defense operations.

www.navalnews.com

 

[Ananda]

Philippine Army Recommissions Scorpion FV101 CVRT Light Reconnaissance for Training Missions

Philippine Army Recommissions Scorpion FV101 CVRT Light Reconnaissance Tracked Armored Vehicle

armyrecognition.com

According to this, Philippines Army wants to reactivate or more precise refurbished their old Scorpion. This is the version that still use 76mm gun rather then 90mm Cockeril gun that Indonesian use as newer version.

Don't have more info what kind of turret refurbishment that they plan, but as it's already been used by newer version, 90mm gun can be logical choice. However they can also choose 35mm gun like bushmaster.

Refurbishment still can be more economical choice, to maintain fleet. Despite new tanks is coming, as getting new Sabrah will cost them more that refurbishment of existing Scorpion. It is gap measure.