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Manila, Philippines – The Philippine Navy has the responsibility
of protecting the vast body of water surrounding the Philippines, thus, maritime
should be well-equipped.
On Monday, the Philippine Navy announced that it would mount
its first missile system by Christmas time.
The new missile system comes on its three- brand new multi-purpose
attack craft (MPAC) from Israel.
According to Vice Admiral Ronald Joseph Mercado, the navy
chief, there is a scheduled pre-delivery inspection of the Rafael Advanced
Systems Ltd.’s Spike ER (extended range) missile system on the Philippine Navy’s
MPACs.
“A pre-delivery inspection is already scheduled. Then a
[Philippine] Air Force plane will go to Israel to transport the missiles to the
Philippines. All expenses paid by the proponent,” Mercado said in a text
message.
He said that tentative fitting of the missile system would
be in December.
The said missile system is said to be capable of penetrating
1,000 millimeters or 39 inches of rolled homogeneous armor with a maximum range
of five miles. Its missile weapons can engage surface level targets.
The MPAC are Mark III models, which are more advanced
compared to the existing inventory of the Navy. The funds were sourced from the
Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Act Trust Fund of 2000.
Meanwhile, the US government announced that it will donate a
Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) to the Philippine Navy.
The TARS is primarily used for surveillance, an unmanned and
self-sustained lighter-than-aircraft system. It can also rise up to 15, 000
feet but would remain at rest or stationary as it is as tethered by a cable on
the ground.
With this, Philippine Navy would easily detect presence of
aircrafts and watercrafts on coastal areas surrounding the Philippine areas.
Source: Manila Times
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