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TweetThe Department of Budget & Management released the official AFP Modernization Budget for 2018: P25B. This represents a fraction of the total DND budget of P149.7B — which includes everything from salaries, to veterans pension payments, to operational expenses that keep aircraft flying, ships sailing, and guns firing. When evaluating whether or not the P25B […]

TweetWhile this is the first full year of the Duterte administration, many of the projects completed this year actually had their genesis in either the Arroyo or Aquino administrations. Among the capabilities that the AFP acquired this year are: Additional supersonic assets Continued increase in cargo transport capability, both by air and sea Situational awareness assets […]

TweetThe year 2016 delivered the last of the Aquino administration’s contributions to the AFP modernization effort. While many had their genesis during the Arroyo administration, credit for continuation and eventual completion of these projects can — within reason — be attributed to BSA III. As with 2015, this year continued the trend towards high-value, capability-leap-frogging, acquisitions for […]

TweetThe 48th anniversary of the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing, on the 13th of September, 2016, gave President Duterte’s critics yet another treasure-trove of “Duterteisms” that have since become fodder for punditry on defense social media and even generated international interest in Philippine foreign policy. In this latest episode, Duterte stated, among other controversial assertions, his […]

TweetThe Aquino administration’s Presidential candidate, Mar Roxas, had campaigned on a promise of continuing with the courses of action of the outgoing administration and represented continuity of an AFP Modernization Program that achieved gains hitherto unseen: Aquino administration   Arroyo administration    Ramos administration 2015 2014 2013 2012 2007 to 2011 2003 to 2006  The Plan: […]

TweetWhereas 2014 was the year of the “Notice of Award”, 2015 was the year of deliveries. No less than 18 projects — for all three services — saw their first or full deliveries this year, making it the most active project-conclusion period since the first acquisitions of the AFP Modernization Program in 2003. Among the capabilities that […]

TweetThe Philippine Air Force posted the following on their FB page Korean Aerospace posted pictures of the take off sequence here. For updates on the progress of the aircraft, see the following thread on Timawa.net. Note that this Timawa thread will eventually be merged with the original SAA/LIFT thread, so the first link will eventually be deactivated.

TweetSeaplanes and flying boats are aircraft with the unique ability to travel to any marine destination, at fixed-wing-aircraft speed, and then land and take-off from water. It is a category of aircraft that is — theoretically — well suited to an archipelagic country like the Philippines. The Philippine Navy’s 15-year development plan calls for the acquisition of eight […]

TweetNote: This article is also available on the Timawa.net forum on the long standing What’s happening with the AFP modernization thread that’s been documenting the progress of the up-arming effort since 2003. —– The year 2014 continues the dramatic increase in defense acquisition efforts that started in 2010. Many of those efforts, however, remain unrealized as of […]

TweetAs we ponder the never ending delays that plague defense acquisitions in the Aquino administration, it would be healthy to recall the state of affairs a mere 10 years ago. Back to the days of the Arroyo administration when modernization funding was completely pegged to the meager P5B annual allocation that the AFP modernization law […]