Philippines, Palawan —Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin joined top leaders at the Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command on Palawan Island on Tuesday to observe a demonstration of an unmanned surface vessel currently being developed by the Philippine military, as well as two other countries currently conducting demonstrations. We discussed interdisciplinary technology promotion activities. Conducted from base.
“Our cooperation continues to expand. That means deepening information sharing, integrating maritime activities, joint training, and capacity building. And we will be able to do even more in the future,” Austin said. he told reporters from the United States and the Philippines at a press conference.
This was Austin’s second visit to the Philippines, out of his fourth. This is the largest visit to the Philippines by a US Secretary of Defense to date. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said in a press conference that Austin requested a personal visit to WESCOM during this stopover.
On the ground at the headquarters, his team toured the C2 Fusion Center and the developing drone and interoperability technologies that both services are jointly refining. The center is one of several built in the Philippines by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command to enhance information sharing and cooperation.
“I just watched the Philippine Navy demonstrate the capabilities of the T-12 unmanned surface ship. The T-12 is one of several unmanned capabilities funded and deployed this year through U.S. security assistance. One of them,” Austin said.
On the sidelines of the event, U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Logan Hampton explained some of the intricacies of that platform to DefenseScoop.
“It was built by Murtack in the United States and is called Mantas. It is a 12-foot unmanned surface ship. It has redundant communication paths for over-the-horizon and local, or line-of-sight, communication. Then there’s autonomous avoidance and a sharper camera. [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance or ISR] Payload,” Hampton said.
Drones are primarily deployed to increase military maritime domain awareness. These serve as a type of coastal monitoring station, transmitting data and images and providing feedback to inform commanders about operations and invasions at sea.
When equipped with all available add-on assets and packages, the USV can reach a range of approximately 30 nautical miles, Hampton said.
“So this unit is a work in progress unit. There are four of them, two in the ISR configuration and two in the sonar configuration. One of them is actually in the water here in Oyster Bay and is currently being surveyed. And they have a bigger ship – it’s a T-38 – it’s 38 feet. [Subic Bay right now]here controlled by these two operators. Therefore, both boats currently on the water are controlled by Phil Navy personnel [who are] USV operator,” Sgt.
Notably, the USV is partially enabled by Starlink capabilities powered by Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellites, which Hampton calls a “power amplifier.”
“It’s very plug-and-play, so it makes everything easy. You can see that you have the Minister Link right there, powering it for the internet… They’re controlling it from a distance. And each The ship has a maritime Starlink, and this fusion center is operated by Starlink. So this is very convenient,” Hampton said.
In Hampton’s view, this study is a powerful example of how the U.S. and Philippine militaries are facilitating pathways to enhanced operational incapacity in real-world missions.
“We are doing an AAR, or post-mortem review, and we are just trying to work together on the Philippine and U.S. sides to develop this as quickly as possible,” he said.
Hampton said he plans to remain stationed on Palawan Island and active in this mission until sometime in the first quarter of 2025. However, he emphasized that although all of this is being developed in cooperation with the US military, these are solely Philippine capabilities.
“We don’t control them. We’re partners and we help strengthen collaboration and integration. But this is theirs. So I tell them, ‘Come on, let’s do this. I can’t say, “Just try it.” Do that. ” The key is to build relationships and collaborate by, with, and through our partners. And it’s their show. We’re just here to support,” Hampton said.
In a subsequent press conference, Mr. Austin said that “many more platforms like this” would likely be provided to the Philippines soon, especially through the $500 million in foreign military financing he announced during his last trip to the Philippines. I admitted it.
Military allies are currently confused about the platforms and capabilities the United States offers, but officials have suggested that the initial focus will be on cyber and asymmetric capabilities.
“We want to make sure we do everything we can to help.” [Teodoro] Improving his domain awareness, ability to protect sovereign territory and interests, cyber plays a key role in that regard. You saw evidence of that earlier today when the T-12 was on display. And… the T-12, you know, a fundamental part of it is the ability to command and control using cyber capabilities. We have to protect those capabilities,” Austin told DefenseScoop.
“And as we acquire more of these systems, we need to ensure that our supply chain is protected and able to meet demand as conditions change and things evolve,” he added.
With that in mind, Teodoro told DefenseScoop that the country is developing convergence measures to protect the country’s critical infrastructure, domestic supply chains, and communication systems from vulnerabilities it faces now and in the future.
In response to questions from Philippines-based reporters, the defense secretaries said that these and other high-stakes joint U.S. He said he could not speculate on whether the action would continue.
“But I believe this country will continue to be important to us for many years to come, and I think the strength of our alliance will outlast any change of government in the years to come.” said Mr. Austin.
Teodoro said the United States “wants certainty and guarantees in our bilateral relationship” because it is a treaty ally.
“But we need to think about the other side of the coin as well and anticipate what can and will happen.” [with regard to the] What should America shout next year? [Chinese President Xi Jinping] Because another factor, a positive factor, that makes this alliance so strong is China’s excesses and aggression in this world party,” Teodoro said.
As coercion in and around the South China Sea intensifies, he further said Chinese military officials are increasingly denying China access to its exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.
“They actually placed a number of maritime police vessels, pseudo-warships disguised as maritime vessels, in the Western Sea area. And they were very active in their intelligence operations against the Philippines,” Teodoro said.
