A SENATOR on Wednesday vowed to ensure that funding for anti-drone technologies would be considered in the Defense department’s program.
Senator Jose “Jinggoy” P. Ejercito, Jr., who chairs a Senate panel handling defense issues, said he’ll consider drone threats in reviewing the Department of National Defense’s budget for next year.
“The government should seriously consider the adoption of anti-drone technologies as countermeasures in the event of a drone attack or reconnaissance,” he told BusinessWorld via Viber. “Drone and counter-drone capabilities should form part of the research and development program of the government.”
Mr. Ejercito cited how the Maute clan, a group of extremists who pledged loyalty to the Islamic State, used drones to observe and evade military offensives during a month-long clash in the southern region of Mindanao in 2017.
“The Armed Forces of the Philippines’ defense posture will greatly benefit from technologies capable of detecting the presence of drones in the country’s airspace,” he said.
Mr. Ejercito echoed the sentiments of military experts that the conventional use of drones will likely be the trend of future warfare. “It is in fact being utilized by the Armed Forces of Russia and Ukraine in their ongoing armed conflict as well as China and Taiwan which are likewise embroiled in military tension.”
Earlier this month, Taiwan shot down an unidentified civilian drone that entered its airspace near Lion islet, which is just a few kilometers away from mainland China.
Chinese military exercises have been held around the area since August after a top US lawmaker visited Taiwan, which is being claimed by China. Taiwan is just 1,200 kilometers away from the northern part of the Philippines.
Chester B. Cabalza, who studied national security and policymaking at the University of Delaware, earlier told BusinessWorld that in case the Philippines defies Beijing and sides with Washington in the South China Sea, “China will heavily use drones for the fortification of its militarized islands in the disputed waterway, aside from using its armada.”
Mr. Ejercito said that given the “precarious and volatile” situation in the region, “it is paramount that the country is well-prepared against external aggression and hostilities to protect our territorial integrity and national sovereignty.”
The anti-drone market is valued at $900 billion and is expected to increase to $3.8 billion by 2027, according to a report by Markets and Markets. Rising security breaches are among the factors that fuel the market.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines has guidelines on how individuals should operate their drones, but policies are not enough to deter drone threats, Kiefer Zachary Hipe, a military historian, told BusinessWorld earlier this month. “They can only go so far as to regulate their use by the general public.” — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza