The United States on Tuesday turned over to the Philippine Air Force a Special Airborne Mission Installation and Response (Sabir) system that would increase its capabilities in surveying Philippine territories.
The system, worth P807 million, will be used in monitoring the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea), East Philippine Sea covering the Philippine (Benham) Rise and the Sulu Sea, according to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
The Sabir system falls under the Southeast Asia Maritime Security initiatives of the US government, which aims to increase the maritime domain awareness and airborne, counter-terrorism and humanitarian assistance capabilities of the Philippines.
“Also, we can use this [system] for surveying devastated areas by typhoons before and after, so that we can assess the damage [caused by the disasters],” Lorenzana told reporters in a chance interview after the turnover ceremony in Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.
The system is a “bolt-on, bolt-off” avionics module for the C-130 aircraft and this will serve as the main system for the Air Force’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations.
Maj. Aristides Galang Jr., Air Force spokesman, said the Sabir system will be operated by the 300th Air Intelligence and Security Wing.
US Ambassador Sung Kim said the Sabir system can be used in “many different ways” such as countering illegal drugs in the country, which is a top priority of the Duterte administration.
“[It can also be used] for border patrols… and of course, humanitarian assistance as well. We are very proud to make this contribution to the Philippine Air Force,” he added.
The US government has already turned over several equipment to the Air Force such as the ScanEagle drones and Cessna planes under the military’s modernization program.
Kim said such signifies Washington’s commitment in assisting Manila when it comes to modernizing the Philippine military.
“We have a long-standing partnership with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, we have great respect for the Armed Forces, so, we want to do our part as [the Philippines’] friend, partner and ally to support the modernization efforts in all sense, particularly in the area of ISR,” he added.
Lorenzana, meanwhile, said the Sabir system will be used “once in a while” only but cited several assets of the military such as the ScanEagle drones also from the US and the TC-90 planes from Japan that was donated to the Philippine Navy.
“Once these assets have this equipment [Sabir], then they can use it for ISR [operations],” the Defense chief added.