The Navy's Stegosaurus-class submarine and anti-submarine helicopters conduct joint anti-submarine drills. (File photo)
[Reporter Luo Tianbin/Taipei Report] Faced with the increasing military threat from the Communist Army and the rising situation in the South China Sea, the Philippines has promoted the largest naval modernization plan in history in recent years. In addition to purchasing new frigates and ocean patrol ships from South Korea, it has also allocated approximately 80 billion to 110 billion pesos (approximately NT$41.2 billion to NT$56.7 billion) to prepare to build two diesel-electric submarines from scratch. As Taiwan will also have 10 modern submarines in the future, Taiwan and the Philippines guard the northern and southern ends of the Bashi Strait. There is considerable room for development in joint anti-submarine and submarine hunting operations in the future.
Looking back on past history, before the U.S. military withdrew from its Subic Bay base in 1992, the Philippines' underwater defense was entirely handled by the U.S. military. Therefore, the Philippine Navy has never owned a submarine, and its mission also focused on nearshore security. Although Taiwan and the Philippines were both allies of the United States at that time, their military interactions were based on single-line cooperation with the US military. In addition, Taiwan and the Philippines severed diplomatic relations in 1975 and had disputes over overlapping maritime areas. The two sides did not conduct public bilateral joint anti-submarine exercises.
As China's military pressure in the Indo-Pacific region increases, the United States, Japan, Australia and the Philippines have agreed to establish a "coordination center" in the Philippines to synchronize the actions of all parties and strengthen the Philippines' defense capabilities. The picture shows Philippine Defense Secretary Teodoro (from left to right), Australian Defense Minister Mullers, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, and U.S. Secretary of War Hergseth. (European News Agency file photo)
However, as Communist submarines frequently pass through the Luzon Strait, which is more than 300 kilometers wide, in and out of the Western Pacific, the geostrategic strategy has completely changed. Military experts analyze that once the Philippines successfully acquires two submarines in the early 2030s, they can deploy them off the Batanes Islands at the southern end of the strait as a submarine ambush area, forming a north-south pincer attack pocket array with the Taiwanese submarines at the northern end.
Although limited by diplomatic realities and the one-China policy, it will be difficult for the Philippines to publicly hold joint military exercises with Taiwan in the short term, but Taiwan has already had successful precedents for reference. Since Taiwan launched the Starlight Project in 1975, the Taiwan and Singapore navies have conducted many undisclosed anti-submarine and submarine hunting exercises on the high seas. The two sides conducted them privately with various tacit understandings, and the cooperation experience has long been spread within the navy.
This secret training model for Taiwanese stars, which is all about action but not talk, provides the best reference for future underwater cooperation between Taiwan and the Philippines. Even if it is not done openly, Taiwan and the Philippines can exchange hydrographic information through the US military intermediary, or divide the patrol depth to avoid accidental attacks, and each can defend the northern and southern halves of the strait. With Vietnam having 6 submarines, Singapore expanding its fleet to 6, and the Philippines planning to build 2 submarines, low-key cooperation among friendly countries will effectively seal the chokepoint of the PLA's submarines.
