Israel supplied warships to a country in Asia

On September 17, the Philippine Navy received two new attack ships (FAIC) made by Israeli shipyards. This is reported on the “Army Reconnaissance” website. The two ships, which were numbered PG-908 and PG-909, arrived at the port of Manila – and joined six existing ones.

Those ships carry with them MLR-NLOS launchers and NLOS spike missiles made by Rafael. The Spike series includes electro-optical missiles with forget and forget capabilities, learning and updating capabilities, autonomous driving and covert attack capabilities. The NLOS missile has a range of 25-30 km and, like other missiles in the series, can also be launched from land and air platforms.

The Philippine attack ships are just one example among many of the extensive defense trade ties between the countries. Israel supplies the country with many challenges with aircraft, air defense systems and light tanks. According to Army Reconnaissance, these connections also include knowledge transfer, in which Filipino technicians learn how to maintain the facilities.

According to data from the Stockholm Institute for Peace Research (SIPRI), between 2019-2023, Israel was ranked ninth in the table of foreign exchange exporters, with 2.4% of all world exports. During this period, the main target was India (37% of all exports), and in second place were The Philippines (12%) – more than the USA (8.7%). On the other hand, as far as imports are concerned, the Philippines was ranked 22nd with 1% of all imports. Out of all this, Israel was in second place among the Philippine import sources (28%), after South Korea (37%).

The Israeli-Philippine cooperation is one pillar of Manila’s “Horizon 3” plan (2023-2028) for the modernization of the security forces. Already in the two previous plans, which included ships, planes and artillery systems, Israeli companies occupied a significant place. Barmy Reconnaissance points out that the Israeli government and private companies are trying to integrate into other areas in which Horizon 3 deals, including cyber.