Blog Archives

TweetMost modern smart munitions use a combination of GPS and Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) to achieve their phenomenal accuracy. Loss of one option, therefore, doesn’t completely negate the “smartness” of the weapon. Both, however, are needed to work as advertised. Of the two options, the GPS component is most vulnerable to outside interference because it […]

TweetIn the wake of efforts by the Senate Committee on National Defense to amend Section 53 of the Government Procurement Reform Act to give the President the power to negotiate modernization-related acquisitions (see here), supporters of local defense industry players sought to campaign the Office of the President to use that power to instruct the DND […]

TweetIn 2013, the Self-Reliant Defense Posture (SRDP) program — an ongoing albeit lackadaisical effort to create an indigenous defense industry — saw the most tangible display of high-level support in recent decades, when the Department of National Defense committed significant resources to the modernization of the Government Arsenal (GA), and facilitated the organization of the […]

TweetA fair number of discussions about SRDP, on various social groups, trumpet the abundance of skills in the Philippine labor force. This is how pronouncements typically go: “We have so many engineers, computer graduates, OFWs with technology exposure overseas, etc. . . . so we should be able to make our own weapons!!!”. These assertions, […]

TweetVarious defense commentators on social media have championed Philippine manufacture of all manner of weapons. From 20mm cannons to sophisticated aircraft and missiles. All too often, however, these Self-Reliant Defense Posture (SRDP) advocates side-step the need to be selective about what we push to make by ourselves. All forms of manufacture, to include weapons manufacture, is subject […]

TweetThe Special Actions Weapon (SAW) 9 sub-machine gun was a joint research project between the Government Arsenal and Safariland Firearms Manufacturing Corp. Little is known about this weapon’s origins, but its alternative name — the “Efficient Reliable Assault Pistol (ERAP)” — suggests inception during the term of President Estrada. It first appeared on the Timawa.net […]

TweetThe Government Arsenal announced via its Facebook account, and through Timawa.net, its plans to expand its product with the following rounds for 2012. The following photographs show the new cartridges. The match-grade rounds for 7.62mm and 5.56mm are of particular interest. These are to be manufactured for the Philippine Army ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet shooting […]

TweetThe largest locally-built navy vessel has arrived in Metro Manila. The BU-346, provisionally named “BRP Tagbanua” arrived from the Philippine Iron Construction & Marine Works (PICMW) shipyard on a voyage that also served as its sea trial. According to AFP sources, the results were deemed satisfactory. This vessel commissioned later this month, long with BRP […]

TweetAccording to the following Notice to Mariners (NOTAM), the Philippine Navy’s latest Landing Craft Utility (LCU) — a breakthrough for SRDP — will conducting its maiden voyag/sea trials on November 10 to 11 by sailing from the PICMW shipyard in Jasaan, Misamis Oriental to Navotas from November 10 to 11, 2011. For details about the […]

TweetBobit Avila, a columnist writing for the Philippine Star, has been an entertaining source of . . . interesting . . . opinions over the years.  His articles have been focal points of a fair number of discussions on the Timawa.net forum, some of which were palm-to-forehead reactions. His views on the Philippine Navy, and how […]