{"id":174450,"date":"2018-08-01T05:00:23","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T09:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=174450"},"modified":"2018-08-01T05:00:23","modified_gmt":"2018-08-01T09:00:23","slug":"island-nations-need-submarines-complete-defense-lorenzana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/08\/01\/island-nations-need-submarines-complete-defense-lorenzana\/","title":{"rendered":"Island nations need submarines for complete defense: Lorenzana"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Lorenzana also said an effective active submarine force is a great deterrent for would-be aggressors due to its capability to travel underwater unseen, giving it the element of surface. (File photo: PTV)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Submarines are a must for the defense capability of an archipelagic state like the Philippines.<\/p>\n

This was stressed by Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana when asked Tuesday on the importance of the Philippine Navy’s acquisition of submarines.<\/p>\n

“For a nation with maritime territory especially, (islands), its national defense is incomplete without (a) submarine,” he added.<\/p>\n

Lorenzana also said an effective active submarine force is a great deterrent for would-be aggressors due to its capability to travel underwater unseen, giving it the element of surface.<\/p>\n

A submarine force is a great morale booster to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the DND chief added.<\/p>\n

Earlier, DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said acquisition of the country’s first submarines will be brought forward to Horizon Two of the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program (RAFPMP).<\/p>\n

Procurement of the above-mentioned naval craft was earlier scheduled for Horizon Three which is expected to run from 2023 to 2028 while Horizon Two is scheduled from 2018 to 2022.<\/p>\n

Budget for the program is roughly placed at PHP300 billion.<\/p>\n

Horizon One lasted from 2013 to 2017 and resulted in the acquisition of the three Del Pilar-class frigates, 12 FA-50PH light-lift interim fighters, two strategic sealift vessels, to name a few.<\/p>\n

The DND spokesperson said submarines are a great equalizer in the country’s naval arsenal once acquired.<\/p>\n

He added that incumbent Navy flag-officer-in-command Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad can be credited for pushing the inclusion of submarines in Horizon Two.<\/p>\n

Earlier, the PN chief said that he fully supports all proposals that would allow the country to acquire its first diesel-electric submarines at the soonest possible time.<\/p>\n

This is because undersea or submarine warfare has become a trend in naval warfare as it is very difficult to fight an unseen opponent due to its ability to go underwater.<\/p>\n

In line with this project, Empedrad said the PN has already created a Submarine Group which is now sending Navy personnel for study and training on submarine operations in preparation for the country’s eventual acquisition of the above-mentioned naval craft. He added that this is necessary as submarine acquisition, including training, support facilities, and the vessel, often takes seven to 10 years.<\/p>\n

The PN chief added that the decision to acquire submarines for the Philippine military was further bolstered by a recent conference he attended in London, United Kingdom where more and more modern navies are shown building up their submarine fleet and anti-submarine capabilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Submarines are a must for the defense capability of an archipelagic state like the Philippines. This was stressed by …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":157106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-priam-nepomuceno","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}