US radar system boosts Philippine maritime security

The United States donates to the Philippines the 28M Class Tethered Aerostat Radar System at the Naval Education and Training Command in Zambales province north of Metro Manila. Source: US Embassy in Manila

By Bong S. Sarmiento | 25th August 2017

THE Philippine Navy (PN) has received a state-of-the-art radar system from the United States as part of Washington’s programme to enhance maritime security measures in Southeast Asia.

The new 28M Class Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) will significantly boost the PN’s capability to fight criminal activities in the high seas as well as detect threats against Filipino fishermen operating in the country’s maritime territory.

Colonel Ernest C. Lee, chief of the joint US Military Assistance Group in the Philippines, formally turned over the 28M Class TARS during a ceremony on Tuesday at the PN’s Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) in Zambales province north of Metro Manila.

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Guest of honour and keynote speaker Philippine Navy Vice-Admiral Joseph Ronald S. Mercado received the TARS on behalf of the country’s maritime force, and thanked Washington for the donation.

US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Michael Klecheski also graced the turnover ceremony.

“The aerostat will provide the Navy with increased awareness of potential threat at sea, such as vessels entering the Philippine sovereign waters and economics,” the Inquirer quoted Klecheski as saying during the ceremony.

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The 28M Class TARS is a self-sustained, rapidly deployable, unmanned lighter-than-air platform. It can rise to an altitude of 5,000 feet (1,524m) while tethered by a single cable.

Sixteen Philippine Naval Information and Communication Technology Center personnel are engaged in a rigorous six-week training programme at the NETC in Zambales to learn assembly, handling, operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting for the 28M Class TARS.

These sixteen students will become instructors for the next class of operators.

Through this donation, the PN is poised to enhance its capability in Maritime Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance by effectively detecting maritime and air traffic within the country’s coastal waters using sensors, the US Embassy in Manila said in a statement.

The 28M Class TARS can also be utilised in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR) operations.

The TARS includes a weather station that provides telemetry data for the monitoring of ambient temperature, pressure, wind speed and other pertinent parameters to successfully operate the system.

The NETC in Zambales was chosen as the staging point for the 28M Class TARS as it is the largest PN base with a flat terrain, and fits the minimum requirement of 300sq ft for the launching of the system.

The radar donation is part of the US Maritime Security Initiative (MSI), a capacity-building assistance program for Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines that aims to improve their ability to address a range of maritime challenges.

Duterte is forging closer ties with China and Russia, instead of the US. Source: Reuters/Romeo Ranoco

Washington continues to extend defence assistance to the Philippines despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s stance to pursue an independent foreign policy.

Duterte is veering away from the US, a long-time ally of the Philippines, to build closer ties with China and Russia, which the strongman from Mindanao already visited since he assumed the presidency in June last year.

SEE ALSO: China ‘elated’ by Philippines foreign policy under Duterte – state media

In October 2016, Duterte announced in Beijing that the Philippines “is separating from the United States”.

But while Manila and Washington’s relations have soured apparently because of Duterte’s “independent foreign policy,” the United States still provides the Philippines with defence assistance.

In separate occasions last month, Washington transferred to Manila two Cessna-208B Grand Caravan Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft and 1,040 pieces of 2.75” rocket motors and 992 pieces of 2.75” rockets for use by the Philippine Air Force (PAF).

 US Ambassador to the Philippines, Sung Y. Kim has said the donations “clearly manifest the strong relations of the Philippines and United States’ armed forces.”