August 16, 2025: Philippine Army takes back unofficial unveiling of their Thor Drones as Pictures of them were removed from Facebook Post
- Government Branch removes Pictures of the Thor Drones of the Philippine Army that they posted on Facebook recently
Yesterday Evening (Friday, August 15, 2025), I was preparing to upload to Wikimedia Commons the Pictures of the Thor Drones of the Philippine Army (PA) that I posted about several Days ago. I usually always do this with Pictures from the Government that I post on my Page. So I went back to the Post where I took them from to check them again.
At first I got confused as I couldn’t find them there anymore, I thought maybe I made a Mistake in the Link I copied. But later I realized that the Pictures were intentionally removed, that’s why they’re not there anymore. So it seems that the PA was not unofficially unveiling those Drones, it looks like weren’t supposed to have been taken and posted at all in the first Place.
I won’t mention anymore the Government Body that posted those Pictures, but I won’t take down my Post about those Drones either, at least not yet. I will only do so if the PA or anybody in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) or Department of National Defense (DND) officially asks me to.
But it has to be official, and not just some Person saying so. They can send me Direct Messages here on Facebook or on any other of my Social Media Accounts. If they do, then I will simply put that Post into “Private” or for my View only.
Anyway, and so the “Mystery” and “Secrets” continues, it looks like the PA still wants to have these Drones hidden from the Public’s View for some Reason. I’m not sure why, maybe because they think it will be an Advantage for them if they do so.
But as I said before, those Drones don’t seem to have made a significant Effect yet in the fight against the New People’s Army (NPA) since they haven’t fully surrendered yet as an Organization. Maybe they will soon though, who knows.
By the Way, I won’t be able to upload the Pictures of those Drones to Wikimedia Commons also anymore, because the Reference or Source Material isn’t available anymore if that Organization checks it. I guess we’ll just have to wait until the PA fully allows the publishing of those Pictures in Public ...
August 13, 2025: Philippine Army finally unofficially unveils their “Mysterious” and Secretive Thor Multi-Purpose Drones bought from Israel
The Philippine Army (PA) seems to have finally and unofficially unveiled their mysterious and secretive Thor Drones in some of the first Pictures of them using it in Public during the recent "Sanay Punglo III" Exercise at the Colonel Ernesto Ravina Air Base (CERAB) in Capas, Tarlac.
The Exercise brought the Attack and Surveillance Assets of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and PA to Train and learn to coordinate with each Other to optimize the use of these Assets during Combat. According to its Brochure, the Thor weighs 25 kg and can be carried on a Backpack, and deployed for use in just two minutes.
It has a range of up to 15 kilometers, speed of up to 45 kilometers per hour, can reach an altitude of up 3,650 meters and has a Flight Endurance of around 70 minutes with a Camera Payload. It can also carry various Payloads of up to 13 kilograms, which includes Surveillance Equipment, Laser Designating Devices, Supplies and even up to six Grenades for Combat.
The Contract for more than a thousand of these Drones was signed back in 2019 under the Administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, and were to be delivered by 2021. The Philippine Government back then made these such a secret that Elbit did not even name the Philippines as the Country they were supplying these to, this was only revealed gradually over the Years since then.
The Drone's Manufacturer, "Elbit Systems", calls the Thor as a "Military Tactical Mini Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)".
MY THOUGHTS:
The over a thousand Units of the Thor Drones I think is enough to equip our Troops at Company Level, meaning each Company can have at least one if evenly distributed. It looks like the PA has been training and using these Drones for no more than four Years now.
I am not so sure why the PA is so secretive about these Drones, but so far in Terms of the Results, its overall impact on the Battlefield against the New People’s Army (NPA) seems to be only limited because up to now, the NPAs haven’t given up yet, so it hasn’t been a “War-winning” Equipment or Weapon yet for now.
The latest PA Picture only shows it with Surveillance Equipment, so it’s hard to determine if the PA has been using it for other Missions it is capable of as well. If the PA uses its full Capability, then it means they can attack Enemy Forces with Grenades too, if they want to.
It also means that they can designate Targets for the Air Force to use Laser-guided Weapons, and if the PA buys Laser-guided Mortar and Howitzer Ammo, then these Drones can designate Targets for those as well. The Thor can also carry Supplies if needed, although its Payload is limited to only 13 kilos.
SOURCES:
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