Radar system from Japan enhances Philippines’ South China Sea surveillance

Maria T. Reyes

Japan formally provided the Philippines with an air surveillance radar system in late December 2023, bolstering the Southeast Asian country’s monitoring capabilities amid Beijing’s growing aggressiveness in the South China Sea.

The system, which provides long-range detection of jet fighters and missiles, was installed at Wallace Air Station, a former United States military base about 270 kilometers north of Manila that faces the disputed sea.

The delivery of the first of three fixed-unit and one mobile long-range surveillance radars ordered by the Philippines in 2020 for $103 million comes at a time of increased assertiveness by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The remaining radars, also manufactured by Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric Corp., will be delivered by 2026 and will operate from as yet unspecified locations.

The PRC claims most of the South China Sea as its territory and continues to disregard an international tribunal’s 2016 ruling rejecting those claims. Its forces routinely harass other claimant states’ vessels conducting lawful operations. In December 2023, for example, Chinese coast guard and maritime militia ships fired water cannons and rammed Philippine vessels in an attempt to disrupt their resupply missions to Philippine Sailors stationed in the West Philippine Sea, part of the South China Sea comprising Manila’s EEZ.

The radar project is a milestone for Japan, marking the nation’s first export of defense equipment since easing its arms trade ban in 2014.

The radar system “becomes especially crucial given the evolving security landscape in the region,” Philippine Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Stephen Parreno said during the handover ceremony. “This radar, which will operate as part of our Integrated Air Defense System, will enable us to detect potential threats from greater distances with increased precision, giving us quicker response times to intercept.”

The system has a range of 555 kilometers for aircraft and more than 930 kilometers for ballistic missiles. Philippine Air Force personnel were trained in Japan on operating the system.

The former U.S. base in San Fernando in the northern province of La Union had been without radar capability since 2015, when its 1950s-era radars were retired.

“I view such development as the expansion of the Philippines’ South China Sea toolkit,” Mark Manantan, director of cybersecurity and critical technologies at Pacific Forum, a Hawaii-based think tank, told FORUM. “Of course, from a diplomatic perspective it rides on the growing positive relationships of Japan and the Philippines. Ever since the release of the 2016 arbitral ruling, there is an explicit endorsement and recognition of international law oriented around UNCLOS [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea].”

Japan is supporting defense capability upgrades for the Philippines and other like-minded countries to boost deterrence. At the Japan-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Tokyo in December 2023, the parties committed to strengthening maritime security cooperation.

“At the regional level, it is also worth noting that the Philippine-Japan strategic cooperation has spillover effects in Southeast Asia,” Manantan said. “It comes on the heels of the … ASEAN-Japan 50th commemorative summit. ASEAN-Japan relations have been elevated to a comprehensive security partnership in 2023.

“We also see parallel developments with other ASEAN countries as far as Tokyo’s cooperation with Malaysia and Vietnam,” he said.

Such developments will reinforce ASEAN’s stance against unilateral attempts to change the status quo and its strong adherence to international law, Manantan noted.

Maria T. Reyes is a FORUM contributor reporting from Manila, Philippines.