Equal Military Firepower Across Branches

There are aims that a branch of the military will be much powerful or favorable over the other, citing geographical and/or other concerns. However, power balancing, especially among military branches is indeed much appropriate.


PRIORITIES: INTERNAL AS TO EXTERNAL

115-Meter Patrol Frigate - BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PF16)
Source: Navy Today

The Philippine military is in the pressure either to prioritize both internal and external problems. That means dealing with communists and the secessionist groups far south within the nation and a huge enemy across the seas outside its boarders. With that comes the confusion among the ordinary citizen of the Philippines. One say 'prioritize internal, the other say 'prioritize external' and so fourth. And that connotes 'bad ass' weapons that are simply not feasible or overrated in the sense that it will simply deemed costly.

LAND FORCES UPGRADES

Upgrading land forces (IE: Philippine Army) beyond the supposed plans is indeed not a necessity. In fact, they already get their necessary upgrades like night fighting equipment, armored personnel carriers, and many. With that, it gives already the quantum leap in which it boosts moral on the boots in the ground. However, let us not focus on the Army alone. Considering that Philippines is an archipelago, one must consider that upgrading the Air Force and as well as the Navy is a indeed a necessity and competency that must be gained timely.

ANALYSIS: THREATS FROM ALL ACROSS

There are a fair amount that do understand that the Chinese are the bigger threat. But then they have no concept of where the Kalayaan Island Group is, and what their importance is. These people are convinced that the Chinese are going to land in Lingayen Gulf and drive south to Manila. And so they believe that the army must be bolstered in order to stop that attack.

And some actually understand that the real battleground is 200 nautical miles out in the EEZ, but that the solution is put every last soldier and tank on Pagasa Island and kill the enemy as he comes ashore........not realizing that an enemy can simply impose and air/sea blockade and starve out the defenders.

Not many grasp the concept of the integration of land, sea, and air in battle. This is the way wars have been fought since at least the Second World War. While you may have a strong land force, control of the air and seas can neutralize that. The Philippines itself was the laboratory for that kind of warfare during the invasion of 1941-1942. While the USAFFE was numerically superior, the destruction of the Far East Air Force in the first day of the war gave the Japanese air superiority with which to control the battlefield. The pull out of the weak US Asiatic Fleet left the country under complete naval blockade.

But to tie this back to the discussion of land forces, which triggered all of this........

During the invasion of 1941-1942, the USAFFE forces actually had better armor available to them. They had 2 battalions with 50 M3 Stuarts each,with some half-tracks with 75mm anti-tank guns. As opposed to Japanese tanks that had 57mm guns that fired high explosive, rather than armor piercing rounds. USAFFE armor had a clear advantage.......except that the Japanese had air superiority and were killing Stuarts and half-tracks from the air.

The point being......you could invest all you want into land based armor and all the cool tanks you want. But they won't do much good if you did it at the cost of investing in other equipment that will protect that land force from air and sea threats.

CONCLUSION

Equal distribution of the resources across the military branches are indeed essential to keep the nation's security going. Furthermore, all the necessities must be addressed in a way that it is feasible on the allocated funds the government gives, or what the coffers of the Defense Department has to offer to the military and as well acquiring capable weaponry that is affordable to acquire and as well to maintain. Overall, it all comes with this one, simple statement. Use your resources wisely.

With notes from Edrick Masangkay and ideas from Six Adroth [link]

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