Having received official independence from the United States immediately after World War II, the Philippines retained a very close relationship with the former metropolis, including in the military field. Most of the aircraft are American-made. Although there were supplies from Europe, Australia, Israel. Military-technical cooperation with the Republic of Korea has been actively developing lately.
In the Philippines, there were two of the largest US military bases outside the United States - the air Clark Field and the naval Subic Bay, but both were eliminated in the early 90s. The country is one of the most active participants in the dispute over the Spratly Islands and the surrounding waters.
Located in Southeast Asia, the Philippines has significant similarities with the countries of Latin America in a number of ways. We are talking about an unconditional orientation towards the United States, about Catholicism as the dominant religion, about a very high level of corruption and crime, and a very peculiar structure of the armed forces. The Philippine Armed Forces are large in number, but at the same time focused exclusively on counter-guerrilla operations and have accumulated good experience in this area.
At the same time, the army is completely unprepared for a classic war, since it does not have the equipment for this. The Armed Forces do not have main tanks, self-propelled guns, MLRS, full-fledged combat helicopters, ground air defense systems, submarines, ships and boats with any missile weapons. The existing technique of other classes, as a rule, is very outdated, its number is insignificant.
Ground forces are divided into joint commands - Northern Luzon (5th, 7th Infantry Divisions), South Luzon (2nd, 9th Infantry Divisions), Western, Central (3rd, 8th Infantry Divisions), Western Mindanao (1st infantry division, MTR and ranger regiments), Eastern Mindanao (4th, 6th, 10th infantry divisions). There are 32 infantry brigades in the 10 infantry divisions. In addition, the ground forces include a motorized infantry division and five engineering brigades. There is also an army reserve command, which includes 27 infantry divisions.
In service with 45 British light tanks "Scorpion", 45 Dutch BMP YPR-765 and 6 Turkish ACV-300, more than 500 armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles - American M113 and V-150 (268 and 137 units, respectively), British "Simba" (133), Portuguese V-200 (20). The artillery includes up to 300 towed guns - mostly American M101 and Italian M-56, as well as 570 mortars - Serbian M-69B (100), American M-29 and M-30 (400 and 70). In the army aviation there are up to 11 American light aircraft (3-4 Cessna-172, 1 Cessna-150, 2 Cessna-R206A, up to 2 Cessna-421, up to 2 Cessna-170).
The Air Force has only 12 full-fledged combat vehicles, however, the latest South Korean FA-50 fighters. There are 2 base patrol aircraft (1 Dutch F-27-200MPA, 1 Australian N-22SL), up to 16 American OV-10 reconnaissance aircraft. Transport workers: American C-130 (5), "Commander-690A", "Cessna-177", "Cessna-210" (one each), Dutch F-27 (2) and F-28 (1), the latest Spanish C -295 (3). Training aircraft: Italian S-211 (3) and SF-260 (22), up to 36 American T-41. The S-211 can theoretically be used as light attack aircraft. Multipurpose and transport helicopters: American AUH-76 (up to 8), S-76 (2), Bell-412 (up to 14), MD-520MG (up to 16), S-70A (1), Bell-205 "(Up to 11), UH-1 (up to 110), as well as Italian AW-109E (6) and Polish W-3A (7). The AUH-76 and W-3A can be used as drums.
The Navy has 4 old American-built frigates with purely artillery weapons: 1 "Raja Humabon" (type "Canon"), 3 "Gregorio Pilar" (type "Hamilton", from the US Coast Guard). But patrol ships and boats are in abundance: 1 "General Alvarez" (American "Cyclone"), 3 "Emilio Jacinto" (English "Peacock"), 5-6 "Miguel Malvar" (old American minesweepers "Edmairable"), 2 " Rizal "(old American minesweepers" Ok "), 2" Konrodo Yap "and 6" Tomaz Batilo "(South Korean" Sea Hawk "and" Chamsuri ", respectively), 2" Kagittingan "(German construction), 22" Jose Andrada ", 2 "Alberto Navarette" (type "Point"), 29 "Swiftship". In addition, more than 20 patrol ships and boats are part of the Coast Guard. 2 dvkd type "Tarlak" Indonesian construction, including 15 TDK - 2 type "Bacolod" (American amphibious transports "Besson"), up to 5 "Zamboan del Sur" (American LST-1/542), 1 "Tabganua" and 1 "Manobo" (own construction), 5 "Iwatan" (Australian "Balikpapan").
As mentioned, the ships and boats of the Philippine Navy do not have any missile weapons, not even short-range air defense systems.
Naval aviation includes up to 13 aircraft (up to 8 British BN-2A, American Cessna-172 and Cessna-421) and up to 14 helicopters (up to 7 German Bo-105, 1 American R-22, 6 Italian AW-109).
The Marine Corps consists of four brigades (one is a reserve), is considered a "branch" of the ground forces and is intended for counter-guerrilla warfare. In addition, the Philippine fleet can conduct limited-scale landing operations only within its archipelago. In service with 45 American armored personnel carriers (23 LAV-300, 18 V-150, 4 LVTN-6) and 56 towed guns (30 M101, 20 M-56, 6 M-71).
In June 2016, Manila won a case against Beijing in the Hague arbitration over the ownership of a number of islands and reefs in the South China Sea, but the opponent, as expected, ignored this decision. On the southern island of Mindanao, the war has been going on for many years against Islamic radicals, who in 2014 swore allegiance to the IS, which was banned in our country. In the event of the complete elimination of terrorist bases in Iraq and Syria, a significant part of the surviving militants will move to Southeast Asia, primarily to Mindanao. The battles that lasted from May to October 2017 against the militants of the Caliphate for the city of Marawi, although formally won by the Philippine army, showed the extreme limitedness of its potential.
Today, the PLA Navy can organize a large-scale landing in the Philippines without any problems. Paradoxically, it would be much easier for the Chinese than in Taiwan. But his Armed Forces are much stronger than the Philippine army, moreover, they are initially focused on repelling such aggression.
As the experience of the last decade shows, the hopes for a military alliance with the United States for a number of countries and non-state actors (Georgia, Ukraine, the Syrian "opposition") have become suicidal. Apparently, in the near future, this number will be joined by the Kurds, and then Taiwan, since Washington's gigantic military power is formal. Comparable opponents are too tough for him. In these cases, he turned out to be not ready for a war with Russia, he was also deliberately incapable of an armed confrontation with China. The United States can deliberately put allies in jeopardy without providing them with any real help.
Apparently, the new Filipino President Duterte drew certain conclusions from these facts and began a significant diversification of foreign policy. It is worth noting that many modern national leaders are still incapable of such a realization, continuing to believe that an alliance with the United States guarantees them something.
The impossibility of a military confrontation with the PRC and an interest in economic cooperation with this country make Duterte go for a significant rapprochement with Beijing. At the same time, the Filipino president is not ready for a complete break with the United States due to the presence of too close ties in the economic and military fields, as well as the need for insurance against the influence of China. And in order not to be sandwiched between two giants, Duterte will strengthen ties with other centers of power. Russia should become an additional argument against the United States, Japan - a counterweight to China.
In general, we can say that Duterte to a certain extent changed the geopolitical situation in Southeast Asia. However, Manila's influence is limited due to its low economic, political and military potential. Coupled with internal instability, this automatically reduces the value of the Philippines as a potential ally for the major powers. In particular, for Russia, the country will deliberately remain on the distant periphery of interests, although in words Moscow will in every possible way welcome rapprochement with Manila. For the United States and for close neighbors of the Philippines, interest in this country will be somewhat higher, but it will not be in the center of their attention, unless a new "Islamic Caliphate" emerges in the Philippines. However, this option is unlikely to be needed by Manila itself.
