(Eagle News) – Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the Philippines should learn how to produce its own defense equipment in order to ensure its military capabilities.
Lorenzana made the pronouncement during Monday’s Senate hearing on the Frigate Acquisition Project (FAP).
According to Lorenzana, as long as the country sub-contracts the equipment, which includes the Combat Management System (CMS), the Philippines could not prevent other nations from knowing about its capabilities.
“We produce our own CMS, everything, so nobody will know about it,” he said.
During the hearing, Lorenzana also defended the decision of Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the winning bidder for the project, to pick Hanwha as the supplier of the CMS for its two frigates.
Former Philippine Navy flag-officer-in-command Vice Admiral Ronald Joseph Mercado had preferred Thales Tacticos.