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the philippines imports weapons from two "hostile countries" to china: indian missiles attack the south china sea, and us missiles blockade the taiwan strait

recently, the philippine defense minister announced that he would spend 5.3-7.1 billion us dollars to purchase 40 multi-purpose fighter jets, requiring performance to exceed that of the korean fa-50 currently equipped by the philippine military. at the same time, he also made it clear that the philippines is considering purchasing medium-range missiles, and the "typhon" medium-range missiles currently temporarily deployed by the united states in the philippines will be its first choice. all of the above, plus the "brahmos" supersonic anti-ship missiles just delivered by india in april this year, are actually projects planned by the philippines to upgrade the modernization of the military. so, what is the intention of the philippines to purchase a large number of weapons and equipment from india and the united states, two countries that have always been "hostile" to china?

since the philippines has recently attempted to break into the xianbin reef for forced resupply, none of them has succeeded, and now it has even actively collided with the chinese coast guard law enforcement ship, so that the chinese law enforcement ship "violently resisted the law" philippine ship was "pushed" several miles away. faced with this continuous failure, the philippines deeply feels that if it continues to be "crushed" by china, it will have no chance to occupy any chinese islands and reefs in the south china sea. therefore, on august 29, the philippine defense minister made the above "buy, buy, buy" statement. he wants to narrow the gap in strength with china by purchasing advanced weapons and equipment, so as to better serve the continued occupation of china's south china sea islands and reefs in the future.

here we will not evaluate whether the philippines' behavior has a chance of working, but first look at what "magic weapons" the philippines will buy to deal with us after making such a high-profile fuss. first of all, fighter jets. although the philippine defense minister did not announce the model of the fighter jets to be purchased at the press conference, it can be inferred from his statement that "the bidding is now conducted in secret" that the bidding for the purchase of 40 fighter jets should have begun, but it has only been announced now, and probably arms companies have submitted bidding materials to him. although the philippine defense minister did not disclose the bidders and fighter jet models, he announced that the cost of these 40 fighter jets will be between about us$5.2 billion and us$7.1 billion, that is, the average unit price is us$130 million to us$180 million.

according to international practice, this "unit price" is not the "bare metal price", but includes the price of additional equipment or services. therefore, although this price is high, it is not very expensive if it includes engines, electronic equipment, ammunition and training services. there are many optional models that meet this "unit price" range, such as: french rafale; swedish gripen; russian su-35, su-30; american f-16v, f-15ex, and even f-35a. and these models also meet the philippines' requirement of "exceeding the current korean-made fa-50". however, due to the influence of the russian-ukrainian war and the relationship between the philippines and the united states, russian-made fighters should not be considered by the philippines, so only american and european fighters should be eligible to bid. under the premise that the philippines is currently relying on the united states to confront china and has expressed its intention to buy the american-made "typhon" medium-range missiles, american-made fighters have undoubtedly won 90%, and the rest will undoubtedly depend on what models the united states approves to buy.

in fact, judging from the capabilities and needs of the philippine air force, at least heavy aircraft such as the f-15ex can be ruled out first. although the f-35a is not impossible to sell to the philippines, the philippine military obviously does not have a mature modern combat system to support it, and the "hardware and software" strength of the country's air force does not meet the requirements for use. the most important thing is: lockheed martin's f-35 production order has been scheduled for many years. even if the united states can immediately approve the philippines' purchase application this year, the philippine air force will have to wait for a long time to get the first f-35a. by that time, we have already recovered all the islands and reefs occupied by the philippines, so this batch of fighters may be of no use at that time. therefore, the f-16v, which has a suitable price, low requirements, easy approval, and a short waiting time, may be the final winner of the philippines' 40 fighter procurement bidding!

of course, the philippine military also understands that relying on only 40 fourth-generation aircraft is not enough to narrow the gap in strength with the pla. therefore, the philippine defense minister also announced that he would purchase medium-range missiles, and also "explicitly" stated that the us "typhon" medium-range missile system currently deployed on luzon island in the philippines is very suitable! "typhon", a "mobile vertical launch system" that can launch standard-6 and tomahawk cruise missiles, was deployed by the united states in april this year under the pretext of the us-philippines "shoulder to shoulder" military exercise, using c-17 transport aircraft to the northern end of luzon island in the philippines, which can control the bashi channel south of taiwan island.

each "typhon" medium-range missile system launch company consists of 4 launch vehicles, 1 command center and multiple logistics vehicles, and each launch vehicle is responsible for carrying a 4-unit mk-70 mobile vertical launch system. the system can currently launch standard-6 air defense missiles and tomahawk cruise missiles. the maximum range of the former is about 300 kilometers, and the latter is as high as more than 2,500 kilometers! therefore, if these two missiles are deployed to the northern end of luzon island, they can not only block the bashi channel south of taiwan island, but also prevent our military aircraft and warships from passing through here to attack the eastern part of the island; and they can also threaten most of our country's territory-so when the united states deployed "typhon" on luzon island in the philippines on the pretext of "temporary", our country lodged a solemn protest, and the united states also stated that it would withdraw "typhon" in september.

however, according to reports, during the "temporary deployment" of these months, the us military has trained the philippine military on the use of the "typhon". although the extent of the training is unknown, if we combine it with the philippines' current statement that it wants to buy the "typhon", we can understand that the so-called "temporary deployment" is actually just a "smoke bomb" to appease china. in addition, in the list of weapons and equipment that the philippines plans to purchase to deal with china, in addition to the above two types that have not yet been purchased, another missile that is very helpful to the philippines' current operation to occupy china's south china sea islands and reefs has already been obtained in april this year. this is the "brahmos" supersonic anti-ship missile produced by india!

the philippines purchased the indian-made "brahmos" supersonic anti-ship missiles to serve as a "backbone" for the invasion of my country's huangyan island and other islands and reefs. after all, with the maximum range of 290 kilometers, if the "brahmos" is deployed at the oviedo gandiokhi naval base west of luzon island, it can completely cover the dozens of nautical miles around huangyan island. naturally, the coast guard and naval ships sent by my country to enforce the law or escort are all within the strike range of "brahmos". in addition, the second deployment site built by the philippines for "brahmos" is at the northernmost tip of luzon island. although its range cannot completely block the bashi channel, it can cover most areas. this is also a major concern for our military ships that will carry out the "island recovery" mission through here in the future.

it can be seen that the philippines is determined to purchase advanced weapons and equipment from india and the united states to confront my country! but the biggest question now is where the money to buy these equipment comes from? after all, the total military procurement budget of 33.7 billion us dollars is not affordable for the philippines now. you must know that its defense budget in 2025 is only 4.5 billion us dollars. therefore, it will take nearly 10 years for it to realize this "big pie" it has drawn.

but what will the new situation be like in the south china sea and the taiwan strait in 10 years? how much effect will the "firewood stick" that the philippines has bought with great difficulty still have? i am afraid that this is not what marcos jr. would worry about. after all, what his family is best at is to squeeze the philippines and then run away with the money. as for the future of the philippines and what will happen to ordinary people, it is none of their business at all!