The Mystery of Marcos’ Rocket Program

The Bongbong Rocket. Photo courtesy of mitch romero thru Youtube.

I think that every kid who grew up in the 70s and 80s knew that the Philippines under the then President Ferdinand Marcos had an indigenous Rocket Program. However, that program was some sort of an “Urban Legend” because while people talked about it every now and then, there weren’t really a lot of solid news reports about them. I personally, for example, have never seen it on newspaper or TV reports, it was something that somebody else just said via word of mouth. The strange thing is that even now, almost half a century later, in the age of internet and easy information, there is still very little information about the program.

Worst of all is the fact that there are very few surviving samples of the actual rockets and launchers themselves. You would think that with such large rockets and launchers, at least a couple would’ve survived, especially since it was such an important achievement by our country. Hence these rockets are some sort of a "mystery". Now below are the information I was able to gather together from mostly reputable sources, but some of them may not be entirely correct because there just aren't a lot of good information to go around with.

AFP Arms and Equipment - Zamboanga Crisis, September 2013

The Zamboanga Crisis is over as per Malacanang, it was a trying 19-days for the city of Zamboanga which started September 9, 2013 and officially ended at September 28, 2013. Total tally in terms of lives and properties lost is staggering:[1]
- 166 Moron National Liberation Front (MNLF) faction scum dead, 271 arrested
- 23 heroes died, 18 from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and 5 from the Philippine National Police
- 10,000 houses burned or destroyed
- 12 civilians dead, 120,000 people or 10% of the population of Zamboanga were uprooted from their homes

Despite this, though, the "crisis" was a CLEAR VICTORY for the PNoy Administration both strategically and in terms of body count. Strategically, the MNLF faction sought to occupy Zamboanga, but were driven out and ending up either being killed or arrested. In terms of body count, for every soldier or policeman killed, over 7 MNLF faction thrash lost their lives. The victory did come at a high price as the MNLF manure took their frustration and desperation of their impending defeat on the civilian populace by burning down so many houses and thus displacing so many people.

I intend no disrespect towards the heroes and civilians that have died or suffered during the war, but the crisis did give us the opportunity to have a look at some of the equipment the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is using in actual combat. This is NOT intended to be a "comprehensive" coverage of all of the weapons used by our troops during the crisis, just some of it. The primary reason for featuring such equipment are the pictures, once I see a nice, interesting picture of a weapon or equipment in action, then I work backwards from there.

The Birth of the Personal Guided Missile: The Switchblade Drone

Every now and then we encounter new weapon that is truly revolutionary and just totally blows your mind. Such events are relatively rare, and whenever they occur they are a source of great enjoyment for me. The last time this happened was probably when the US started arming their Predator Drones with Hellfire Missiles way back in 2001, so you could say it is now "overdue" to have another such event. And for me, that latest event is the birth of the Personal Guided Missile in the SWITCHBLADE DRONE.

Small, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) has been relatively in common use by United States (US) forces for the last half decade now. These have been used as a means to provide foot soldiers with a quick way to get a vantage point from the air to survey their surroundings, and all the advantages that it brings. What differentiates the Switchblade Drone from others out there is that it is not only used for observation, but it can be used as a weapon as well.

The Switchblade was first introduced in 2011, is about 2 feet long, weighs 6 pounds, and is launched by placing its launcher tube on the ground very similar to that of a mortar. Once launched, the operator can then use the drone's camera for observational purposes ... Or to guide it towards an enemy and/or his equipment. In effect, it is a PERSONAL GUIDED WEAPON. It's electric motor has a loiter time of up to 10 minutes, flies at around 500 feet altitude, and has a range of up to 12 miles. Here is an illustration of how it works:

Photo courtesy of the "Telepresence Options" Website

AFP Modernization 2013: Like Buying Guns Without Buying Ammo?

One frustration I have with the ongoing modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is the fact that they seem to be obsessed with buying "Weapons Platforms", without buying the actual "Weapons" themselves. In a way, it is like buying Guns, without buying the actual Ammunition that you could use with the guns. It doesn't mean that the weapons platforms the AFP will be procuring will not have the capability to fight, of course, but its that these will not have the necessary weapons to effectively fight the threat.

'Acquisitions, and Non-Acquisitions'
As of this writing, the Philippines only has 2 effective, modern Anti-Ship Missile Platforms, and these are the 2 Hamilton class Cutters/Frigates that are in the Philippine Navy Service. One is already in service, while the other one is expected to arrive in the Philippines in August 2013. So far, none of these two ships have been officially confirmed to be armed, or will be armed with Anti Ship Missiles (ASMs).

The Department of Defense (DoD) also announced that they are "very near" in terms of completing the deal to buy a dozen South Korean FA-50s, and in fact expect it to be completed this month, and the most important quality for me in the Philippines' aquiring this aircraft is its ASM capability.