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WASHINGTON - The U.S. will soon give a second Coast Guard cutter to the Philippines as part of efforts to boost the ally’s military amid tensions at sea with China, officials said Tuesday.

The U.S. last year transferred its Hamilton cutter to the Philippines, which made it the flagship of its notoriously dilapidated navy and recently sent it on a mission to the disputed Spratly islands.

Lawmakers will this week conclude formalities to send to the former U.S. colony another cutter, the Dallas, Representative Ed Royce and senior Pentagon official Peter Lavoy told a congressional hearing.

“It should soon be on its way to Manila,” said Royce, a Republican from southern California whose district has a significant Filipino American community.

“The U.S. and the Philippines want peace and stability in this region, which is key to the global economy,” Royce said as he chaired the hearing of a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee.

The Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries have accused China of bellicose behavior over disputes in the South China Sea. Despite historical sensitivities about U.S. troops, the Philippines has said it would welcome further rotations by U.S. forces on its soil and more joint exercises.

Lavoy, the top civilian at the Pentagon handling East Asia, said that the U.S. was “considering a range of military capabilities” as it helps the Philippines move from “an inward focus on domestic threats to an outwardly focused military that needs to be reorganized to address external concerns.”

But Lavoy was noncommittal when asked whether the U.S. would be willing to provide F-16 fighter jets to the Philippines, saying it was critical to look at affordability and other factors.

Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said that cooperation also depended on human rights. Congress has blocked $3 million due to concerns over extrajudicial killings by the Philippine military.

“Although the pace of killings has declined, trying and convicting perpetrators remains an ongoing challenge,” Campbell told the hearing.

But Campbell praised Philippine President Benigno Aquino for addressing human rights and other U.S. concerns, including human trafficking.

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hinaot unta nga intact gihapon ang iyang nga modernong kahimanan inig transfer na sa philippine navy sama sa CIWS, ug uban pa. Ug hinaot unta butangan sa navy ang duha ka Hamilton class ug anti submarine warfare capability ug missile system

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Expect this to be part of the Philippine Air Force's inventory in the coming months:



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The newest ship and the flag ship of the Philippine Navy is the BRP Gregorio Pilar, which is an American Cutter Frigate that served for the United States Coast Guard. It is one of the largest ships of the American Coast Guard.

The Philippine Navy is currently purchasing guided missile platforms as well as to augment the ship's defense capability. The Philippine Navy is to receive another Cutter Frigate from the United States Navy this year; by the end of 2012. These two ships will enhance the fighting and defensive capability of the Philippine Navy quite substantially.






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acquiring two hamilton class ships, delivery of 8 sokol combat helicopters to replace our aging hueys, and the plan of acquiring a squadron of f16s or any multirole fighter are good signs that the aquino administration is serious in modernizing the AFP. The current status of Philippine Airforce is in sorry state, where we dont have a supersonic capability, with only trainer subsonic s211, C-130s, crashing OV 10s, nomads in our plane inventory. In our current state where we dont have enough capable ships to patrol the west philippine sea, we must also consider installing radar system in our occupied spratly islands, putting land based missile batteries in palawan, hidden in a container van system. I think chinese will hesitate intruding our territory upon knowing that we have missile batteries installed in palawan facing the recto bank, where it is believe to have a vast oil or gas deposits dwarfing the current malampaya.

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It is about time that the Philippine Air Force upgrades its inventory to current 4th generation fighters. For a while , prior to its being mothballed, the Philippine Air Force was powered by the F-5 Tiger IIs, however, ever since its being mothballed in 2005-2006, the PAF was practically "airless".

It behooves me that it took foreign pressure and foreign forays into Philippine territory eg, Chinese Naval Encroachment, to bolster and to spearhead the Philippine Modernization Plan to fruition. Had the Philippine Government and the Military Departments taken this seriously years before, we would not be in this weak military position.

Nevertheless, better late than never.

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In response to the presence of the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar, the PLAN (People's Liberation Army Navy) has dispatched a Chinese Patrol Vessel to contest Philippine Naval Presence:



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i hope that the us government will not remove the Phalanx CIWS missile defense gun of USCGS Dallas. And i hope that the philippine navy will name it BRP FRANCISCO DAGOHOY

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Come on, get real. No amount of upgrading of Philippine military hardware within Philippine financial capability will deter any Chinese intention of encroaching into Philippine waters. If the Chinese will not attack the Philippines, it is not because of our ability to retaliate, but because of what they might expose themselves to for picking on a pushover.

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The Philippines , if it wants to preserve its territorial jurisdiction, will require cooperation with the United States, which also is re-focusing its interest in the Asia-Pacific Region. The Chinese have already proved it is not weary to test weaker countries, when she attacked and destroyed a Vietnamese battlegroup back in the mid 1970's to defend what China believes as Chinese Territory.

Here is a little link to that conflict:

Four warships of the Republic of Vietnam participated in the battle: three frigates, Trần Bình Trọng (HQ-5),Lý Thường Kiệt (HQ-16), and Trần Khánh Dư (HQ-4), , and one corvette, Nhật Tảo (HQ-10). In addition, a platoon of South Vietnamese naval commandos, an underwater demolition team, and a regular ARVN platoon were stationed on the islands.
The People’s Republic of China had four warships for most parts of the battle, (PLAN corvettes # 271, #274, # 389 and # 396). This force was then reinforced by two more Kronstad-Class submarine chasers (# 281 and # 282) after the end of the battle. In addition, two PLA marine battalions and an unknown number of irregular militia landed on the islands.

Then in 1988 the Johnson South Reef Skirmish occurred between the Chinese Navy and the Vietnamese Navy:

On January 21, 1988, the Yibin arrived at the Spratly Islands and on January 31, People's Liberation Army Navy troops were detected at Johnson South Reef. Vietnamese forces were rushed into the area to prevent them.

On February 22 and on March 5, PLA-N frigates Nanchong, Xiangtan and Yingtan were dispatched as reinforcements to the area while the Vietnamese dispatched their own forces on March 11 from Ba Son naval yards in Ho Chi Minh City.

The result ended in the sinking of 2 Vietnamese warships, and the death of some 70 Vietnamese marines. China won the naval engagement and gained control of 6 other islands that Vietnam previously held.


In my opinion, one of the largest reasons why China has yet to engage the Philippine Navy is because of the Mutual Defense Alliance the Philippines has with the United States. China would rather solve this situation bilaterally to her favor and does not want the United States getting involved. However, her saber raddling has resulted in the United States and Philippines establishing greater military ties. With United States sending guided missile ships to Philippine Waters off the coast of Palawan and with the resurgence of American military cooperation with the Philippine Armed Forces, the Philippines is becoming more of a heavier nuisance to Chinese Foreign Policy in the region. China cannot directly attack Philippines if the United States is in the region, if she does, she risks losing international support and as what you said, would be dubbed a "bully nation". Additionally, China has yet to engage the full might of the United States Navy. It is not in the best interest of China to do so.



Reference:wikipedia


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Hahaha! That would be cool if it was called the BRP Francisco Dagohoy.

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Philippines is possibly going to get a Missile Frigate (Italian-Made). I hope this goes through!



Deep Water Patrol Vessel (DWPV)

This requirement came out during the recent visit to Italy of a Philippine delegation led by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin. The Philippine DND delegation signed an agreement with their Italian counterparts for possible purchase of Italian weapons systems. This visit include inspections of combat ready ships of the the Maestrale and Soldati classes of the Italian Navy, which are scheduled for retirement, with the earliest possibly by 2013. No indication of sales was made yet.




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Green,

I am a fan of the current Aquino Administration because he is doing what no president post-Marcos was successful in doing-- which is the modernization of the Armed Forces. Aquino promised to provide new warships to the Philippine Navy and he is doing the following:

1. Provided the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar (joined the Philippine Navy in 2011)
2. Acquisition of a 2nd US Naval Cutter Ship, the USS Dallas , which will officially join the Philippine Navy in late 2012
3. Acquisition of 8 SOKOL AttacK Air Craft
4. Acquisition of a squadron of F-16s

From what I hear, the United States is to be sending the Philippines a 3rd US Naval Coast Guard Cutter Frigate by 2013.



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United States Coast Guard Ship Dallas







USCGS Dallas will be handed to the Philippines in 2012, officially.
This will be the 2nd Cutter Frigate the Philippine will receive from the United States Navy.

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