Bilateral defense relations between Japan and the Philippines come at an all-time high, signifying the continuous cooperation between both maritime nations that share a common adversary and similar situation regarding territorial domains and integrity in the Indo-Pacific region.
Completing the list is this capable and modern air defense system that the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force currently uses, as it is in tandem with the older MIM-23 Hawk air defense system that this Japanese military service branch is looking forward to decommissioning.
The recent development in Philippine-Japanese bilateral defense relations signals an improved cooperation between both countries regarding national defense and security, particularly that the Reciprocal Access Agreement that has agreed by both sides enabled the militaries of two countries to take part in the exercises of one another, while freely taking part in deployment of troops within territorial jurisdiction of both Japan and the Philippines within the scope of this bilateral agreement.
Coming alongside a comprehensive agreement between both countries also comes with a capacity-building package that provides much-needed benefits among both countries from a full defense point of view.
OVERVIEW
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| A missile launching unit of the Type 81 Missile Launcher of Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons. |
Bilateral agreements that involve national defense and security between countries are an interesting development in the affairs and the status quo in the Indo-Pacific region, whereby the benefits are sufficient for both of the security and defense requirements that both nations have.
This is specifically the case between Japan and the Philippines, whereby both countries share a common adversary and situation in the region, one that involves challenges to each one’s territorial integrity.
Last July 8, 2024, both the Philippines and Japan signed the Reciprocal Access Agreement or RAA, whereby it has a bit similarity to the mechanisms imposed by the Visiting Forces Agreement or VFA between the Philippines and the United States of America.
The reports described it as a ground-breaking development between the bilateral defense ties between both countries in the Indo-Pacific region, as both Japan and the Philippines are part of what geographically counts as the ‘first island chain’.
The agreement underscores the need of improved bilateral defense relation between both countries, of which it even comes to a point for Japan to support the Philippines on its capacity-building efforts under the ongoing push of the Revised AFP Modernization Program’s Re-Horizon 3 phase and the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept or CADC. In context, Japan’s first successful export of military hardware is with the Philippine Air Force’s J/FPS-3ME air surveillance radar and the J/TPS-P14ME mobile radar variant.
With the success of the export of the aforementioned radar systems to the Philippines from Japan, the latter is now raising up an idea of the likelihood of selling its surface-to-air missile batteries for the Philippine military to consider, with a wide variety of variants coming from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force that might find its way for the likes of the Philippine Air Force. This is especially in line with the recently passed New Government Procurement Act or NGPA (Republic Act 12009), allowing the purchase of second-hand military hardware, provided it is economically preferable to the government.
Currently, the ground-based air defense systems that the Armed Forces of the Philippines possess at the time this article primarily compose of the Spyder Philippine Air Defense System or SPADS of the Philippine Air Force, of which it is a Spyder MR variant provided by Rafael Systems Limited of Israel, and others like the man-portable air defense system or MANPADS that the Philippine Army has purchased for its limited air defense requirements. This comes aside from air defense systems the Philippine Navy has on its warships.
Meanwhile, there are many variants of air defense systems that are currently serving within the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, along with other platforms that it sets for decommissioning and likely getting discussed as a potential ‘up for grabs’ platform for the Philippine Armed Forces to consider. The other platforms already discussed on this website are the Type 74 tanks, the UH-1J Combat Utility Helicopters, and the AH-1S Attack Helicopters that the likes of the Philippine Army might consider.
This topic’s discussion will delve deep into the potential platforms that the Japan Ground Self Defense Force might get decommissioned and eventually transferred to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, while covering at a glance regarding its development, capability, and other relevant details.
Also, the scope of the Reciprocal Access Agreement gets briefly discussed in this article as a sub-topic, as it comes with relevance to the commitments Japan pushes in improving the Philippine Armed Forces capabilities building.
ABOUT THE RECIPROCAL ACCESS AGREEMENT OR RAA
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| Both the Philippine and Japanese governments reached an agreement that strengthening bilateral defense ties of both countries. Image Source. |
Both the Philippines and Japan sit lie in the first island chain between the Asian mainland and the Pacific Ocean, whereby both are island nations that share similar concerns and interest in the region, especially regarding national security concerns and in ensuring the stability and the status quo in the Indo-Pacific region. Hence, it is an ideal concept from here for both countries to strengthen bilateral defense and economic ties given the proximity between the two nations.
That ideal concept received a significant milestone on July 8, 2024, whereby both countries signed and agreed to the Philippine-Japanese Reciprocal Access Agreement or PH-JP RAA, whereby both countries can deploy and rotate military troops and military hardware on each territory and vice versa, encouraging the bilateral trainings and skills exchange between the Philippine military and its Japanese counterpart, of which this involves Humanitarian-related aid and disaster response exercises.
This comes as the Philippines have expanded its defense relations with like-minded countries, whereby similar arrangements that replicate the Reciprocal Access Agreement took place between the likes of Australia and Canada with their respective SOVFA or Status of Visiting Forces Agreement. It differs from the existing arrangement that the Philippines have with the United States and the jointly bound Visiting Forces Agreement or VFA, with itself being the enhancement of the Philippine-US alliance.
The agreement also set a precedent for the Japan Self Defense Force or JSDF to take part actively in any future bilateral and multilateral exercises within the country, especially with the likes of Joint Exercise Balikatan together with the United States, or in other activities that takes part within the Philippine territory. Likewise, this also enables troops belonging to the Philippine Armed Forces to take part in any exercises in Japan, strengthening interoperability and skills exchange between both forces.
Aside from Japan’s desire to join the annual Joint Exercise Balikatan that the Philippine Armed Forces and their United States Armed Forces counterparts taking part every year, the former also aims to craft and create its own version of the said joint exercise with the Philippines, a sign that there will be exercise that go beyond the usual humanitarian aid and disaster response scope before the agreement took place and goes to the scope that involves active military exercise and exchange between JSDF and AFP personnel.
With the approval of the Reciprocal Access Agreement between Japan and the Philippines, the ever-increasing bilateral defense cooperation between countries becomes likely expected, whereby aside from the exchange of both troops, skills, and subject between the troops of both the Japan Self-Defense Force and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, it also gives the likelihood for Japan’s increased support for the Revised AFP Modernization Program that has started when it exported air surveillance radars for the Air Force.
Now that the aspect of improving bilateral ties of both countries on both defense and diplomacy amidst the increased tensions on the peace and order in the Indo-Pacific region, the following subtopics will delve primarily on the existing air defense platforms that Japan Self Defense Force currently has that might have a likelihood or increased chance for their Philippine counterparts to consider, especially in augmenting the Israeli-made ground-based air defense system the latter currently operates.
JAPAN’S LICENSE-BUILT MIM-23 HAWK
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| Japan Ground Self-Defense Force still maintains the MIM-23 Hawk Surface-To-Air Missile, licensed-built in the country. Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons. |
The first air defense platform to delve under this topic involving Japan's Ground Based Air Defense Options that might provide for the Philippine military's capacity building for further securing its national airspace that is the Philippine Air Defense Identification Zone or PADIZ, involves a licensed production copies of an American-based air defense missile design and feature, of which it comes as one of the main capacity features used during the Cold War as used by the United States and the Western Bloc.
Abbreviated as “Homing All the Way Killer”, MIM-23 HAWK is an all-weather low to medium-altitude ground-to-air missile system developed and designed by the American Defense Company Raytheon to satisfy United States Army air defense requirements.
First developed and produced in the 1950s, the iconic Cold-War era medium-range surface-to-air missile system still comes as an ideal supplementary platform for the Philippine Air Force’s ever-increasing air defense coverage requirements.
The first systems of this type entered active service into the United States Army service in the 1960s, followed by a memorandum of agreement across the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO that enabled the co-production of the system in Europe.
This arrangement enabled countries like France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany to have the air defense system, followed by the succeeding orders to other European countries such as to Spain, Greece, and Denmark.
This 1950s-era medium-range air defense system played a significant role in key military combat in recent history, whereby it successfully helped Israel win the 1967 six-day war by shooting down several Egyptian fighter aircraft in several instances. It is also through this same year that the United States and Japan signed a memorandum of understanding or MOU, enabling the latter to produce licensed copy versions of the MIM-23 HAWK for Japan Ground Self-Defense Force use.
Aside from Israel, the Kuwaitis have also used its MIM-23 HAWK air defense system units against the Iraqi aircraft on the first days of the invasion from August 2, 1990, of which it became the iconic ‘Operation Desert Storm’, whereby coalition forces including the United States military deploy its troops and equipment to deter and fight the Iraqi invasion force. While the coalition force deployed their MIM-23 HAWK air defense system units in the Persian Gulf, it did not see actual combat operations.
There are at least three (3) variants of the MIM-23 HAWK medium-range air defense system as developed and improved by the US-based defense company Raytheon, of which it categorized into phases - Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III.
The Phase I variant involves the replacement of key sensors and mechanisms onboard, while the Phase II and III variants introduce significant upgrades into its radar, electronics, and even introduced some advanced computer systems that increase its air defense intercept performance.
Like any contemporary air defense systems like the Philippine Air Force’s Spyder Ground-Based Air Defense System, the MIM-23 HAWK operates as a single battery unit, comprising several launchers with a separate component for radar and control systems.
Both systems mentioned provide substantiated air defense coverage across a certain area, with synchronous coordination from long range air surveillance radar platforms on fixed positions such as the J/FPS-3ME of Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric.
TYPE 81 SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILE
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| Another Type 81 air defense launch unit was on display. Image Source. |
Another air defense system that the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force or the JGSDF fields that might have the likelihood to find its way into the Philippine military’s inventory is the Type 81 Surface-To-Air Missile platform.
This system currently complements the MIM-24 HAWK medium-range air defense system in ensuring the securing the Japanese air defense identification zone, specifically that the country faces intrusions from its neighbors in recent years, starting from the former Soviet Union in the 1980s.
Unlike the MIM-24 HAWK, which is a medium-range air defense system, the Type 81 is actually a short-range air defense platform of which it also operates as a single battery unit, comprising a radar unit and at least two (2) launch vehicles, with the Isuzu SKW or officially known in JGSDF as the Type 73 heavy truck serving as the primary chassis of this air defense system. Both platforms, although having variances in air coverage and capabilities, are mainstay air defense platforms of the JGSDF.
While being a shorter range air defense system, the Type 81 is a system developed throughout the 1960s and 1970s, of which this is eventually getting introduced into active service within the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force or JGSDF in 1982.
The missile munition that came with the system, of which it bears the name ‘Tan-SAM’, has three variants, whereby the original Tan-SAM 1 came with an infrared seeker, the Tan-SAM 1B has an improved infrared seeker, and the Tan-SAM 1C gets a phased array seeker.
Being a short-ranged air defense system, the Type 81 surface-to-air missile system’s own firepower has a maximum range of ten (10) kilometers and a maximum altitude of three (3) kilometers, or 9,842 feet. As for the later variant of the Tan-SAM missile, such as the 1C variant, that range has increased to fourteen (14) kilometers thanks to an improved rocket motor, coupled with a phased array seeking missile seeker that lessens the chance of getting jammed by an infrared decoy such as flares.
The Type 81 systems itself sought mass production from 1981 to the 1990s, while the Tan-SAM missile munitions that came with it still have continuous production since its introduction in the 1980s.
This means that the Japanese company Toshiba, the one that oversees development and production of both the Type 81 systems and the Tan-SAM productions, took at least a decade for the production of the missile systems and still produces the munitions for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force requirements.
Once again, unlike the MIM-24 HAWK, the Type 81 surface-to-air missile system is indigenously Japanese, and is only owned by the Japan Ground Self-Defense force or JGSDF.
Therefore, there are no other countries at the time of this writing, although any prospects of the Japanese government cooperating with the Philippine government in bolstering its air defense system might enable the latter to be the second user and the first overseas user of this air defense system in history.
Aside from these two older air defense platforms that the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force currently has in present and is likely on its way into decommission phase, there is also a likelihood that the Japanese might push its export of newer produced air defense system for the Philippine Air Force to consider, one of which is a significant improvement over the Type 81 surface-to-air missile system whereby it is also called the Tan-SAM KAI II variant.
TYPE 11 SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILE
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| This is basically an improvement over the Type 81 Surface-To-Air Missile. Image Source. |
While the first two types of air defense missile systems that might get by the Philippine Air Force after getting decommissioned from acting Japan Ground Self-Defense Force service after decades of continuous operations, the next two systems are the new ones that currently serve the Japanese military branch might also stand a chance into getting offered for the Philippines to have, although it is still at the discretion of the prospective end-user after considering financial and technical factors.
The first new air defense system for discussion is basically an improvement over the Type 81 Tan-SAM system as discussed here, whereby it shares the same capability as a short-ranged air defense system, while incorporating newer technology into the system, making it more capable compared to its predecessor. This refers to the Type 11 Surface-To-Air Missile, both of which share the same size of 160 mm caliber missile ammunition with its Type 81 predecessor.
Even though it shares a technological tree with the Type 81 surface-to-air missile, the Type 11 actually started development in 2005, with the first units delivered for Japan Ground Self-Defense Force use in 2014.
Both platforms share the same launching platforms, such as the Isuzu SKW or the Type 73 heavy truck for its chassis, although smaller vehicles like the Toyota Mega Cruiser four (4)-wheeled drive heavy duty SUV can also serve as a launch platform of this short range air defense platform.
Developed by the Japanese technology firm Toshiba, the Type 11 missile specifications came with 2.93 meters long, 0.16 meter in diameter, and approximately 103 kilograms in weight. Going further, the system has a maximum range of eighteen (18) kilometers, which is basically greater compared to the fourteen (14) kilometer maximum range of its predecessor, the Type 81 surface-to-air missile system. The following details will refer to the composition of its system's battery platform.
Speaking of a Type 11 surface-to-air missile battery system, it comprises a single Fire Control System Vehicle and two launcher vehicles that can carry four (4) missiles each at a maximum, totalling at least eight (8) missiles per launching battery.
Aside from those mentioned, the Type 11 launching unit also comes with support vehicles that will help rearm the launchers once all 8 missiles from two launching platforms get used against an aerial threat within the air defense system’s area of operations.
Sharing a similar attribute as an improved variant of the Type 81 surface-to-air missile, the Type 11 air defense platform will not be that far-fetched for the Japanese to provide this platform either as a separate offer to its predecessor, or as a package, depending on how things might go if this prospect pushes through.
Still, the idea for the sale of such a platform to the Philippine Air Force is possible, given how the service branch secures the J/FPS-3ME radar platform that the Japan Self Defense Force currently uses.
The next air defense platform that Japan currently uses is more capable than both the Type 81 and Type 11 air defense systems, and this will also complete this prospective list of what will be for the country’s support for improving the Philippine Air Defense System, specifically through these ground-based air defense solutions that might go integrated into the larger system that effectively implements the Philippine Air Defense Identification Zone or PADIZ.
TYPE 03 MEDIUM RANGE SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILE
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| Also known as the Chu-SAM, the Type 03 air defense system is Japan's most modern and more capable air defense system of greater range. Image Source. |
Completing the list is this capable and modern air defense system that the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force currently uses, as it is in tandem with the older MIM-23 Hawk air defense system that this Japanese military service branch is looking forward to decommissioning.
Also, just like the short-ranged Type 11 surface-to-air missile platform, this one is a likely candidate for Japan’s support in improving the Philippines’ own air defense system platform, augmenting the air surveillance radars it supplied.
Designed to replace the older MIM-23 Hawk air defense system that the Japanese produced under license and operated by Japan Ground Self-Defense Force for decades, the Type 03 medium-range air defense system serve as the country’s first indigenously developed and produced air defense system, of which the development has undertaken by a partnership between the Japan Technical Research and Development Institute and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries or MHI.
The development of this indigenously produced Japanese medium-range air defense platform started in the 1990s until this step completed in 2003 that the manufacturer, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, has started production of this air defense platform for Japan Ground Self-Defense Force requirements from 2005 onwards.
Since then, there are sixteen (16) companies of Type 03 medium range air defense platform serving the JGSDF actively, with it being the only user of the platform at the time of this writing.
Moving on to the specifications and subsystems of the Type 03 medium range air defense system developed for Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, its overall range comes at around 50 kilometers, with speeds going at the maximum of Mach 2.5 or twice and a half the speed of sound, and its maximum altitude of around 10 kilometers or 32,808.40 feet. This means that its capability comes at part with Israel’s SPYDER-MR variant of Air Defense Systems that the Philippine Air Force currently operates to-date.
Going further in talking about its specifications and performance, the Type 03 missile has the maximum speed of Mach 2.5 or two and a half times the speed of sound, while the sensors and components found on both the missile and the batteries that launched it comprise with an Active Radar Homing Seeker, plus Inertial Guidance and Mid-flight command link that is specifically designed to detect and deter threats such as intruding fighter aircraft, helicopters, and inbound cruise missiles.
Having a medium-range air defense system like the Type 03 platform plays a crucial role for Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and its air defense prospects, especially when they deployed the air defense platform near the highly contested Senkaku Islands within the Okinawa Prefecture that Japan has full sovereignty on, while China claims the islands as its own in a manner similar to the sham claims that the rogue regional superpower has in claiming Philippines’ Kalayaan Island Group and Panatag Shoal.
If the Japanese actually ended up providing each of the air defense systems like the Type 03 air defense system for the Philippines to use, this will dramatically give a sign of improved defense relations between both countries, particularly in ensuring a secured airspace in the Indo-Pacific region as both Japan and the Philippines help ensures a secured and stable Indo-Pacific region, particularly in monitoring and keeping each other’s airspace in check against unwanted intruders.
IN CONCLUSION
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| The Japanese air defense systems will help augment the capabilities of the Israeli-made SPYDER-MR Ground Based Air Defense Systems or GBADS. Image Source @AlfredoGenom. |
The recent development in Philippine-Japanese bilateral defense relations signals an improved cooperation between both countries regarding national defense and security, particularly that the Reciprocal Access Agreement that has agreed by both sides enabled the militaries of two countries to take part in the exercises of one another, while freely taking part in deployment of troops within territorial jurisdiction of both Japan and the Philippines within the scope of this bilateral agreement.
This development gets a symbolic emphasis on deeper bilateral defense cooperation between both countries, as Japan might grant the request of the Philippines for selling its air defense system solutions, both the ones that are about to retire and the ones that are still in active service in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, likely produced as a brand new platform solution in a manner similar to the new fixed and mobile radar solutions that the Philippine Air Force receives.
Shall this push through, it will significantly improve the country's air defense system mechanism even further, especially that this will probably get reinforced even more with the Philippine Air Force's desire to secure its own multi-role fighter aircraft, now getting additional candidates than ever such as France's Dassault Rafale F4 fighter aircraft. This come as both air and naval defense go as an essential component to secure the country's own archipelagic geography against external threats.
Recalling once again, there are at least four (4) types of Japanese air defense systems that might likely get its way into the Philippine military service, namely the Cold War-designed, license-built MIM-23 air defense system, Type 81 short-ranged air defense system, which is Japan's first indigenously built air defense solution for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, its successor the Type 11 air defense system, and the medium-range Type 03 air defense system.
For context, the Philippine Air Force currently has at least three (3) batteries of SPYDER Ground-Based Air Defense System from Israel's Rafael Advanced Systems Ltd, whereby its current number of systems unit does not suffice the air defense requirements for the operation of the Philippine Air Defense Identification Zone, in a manner similar to how the Multi-role Fighter Aircraft and additional FA-50 light combat aircraft being a priority project for the country's air service branch.
Both the radar platforms and the prospect air defense systems come as the beginning of the growing defense cooperation between Japan and the Philippines, both facing challenges from a larger, aggressive neighbor in the Indo-Pacific region that uses violence in a manner to assert its so-called "claims" over islands in both East and South China (West Philippine) Seas, which is not surprising that both countries are like-minded in dealing with this scenario.
Ultimately, this development will eventually help improve the interoperability and exchange of necessary skills and technological know-how, especially in improving capabilities and employing it for the benefit of improving the defense of both countries in the long run. This comes as both countries belong to the First Island Chain, a set of geographically positioned areas that either keep a regional neighbor like China at bay, or to have a dominated access in the Western Pacific area.
(c) 2024 PDA.
