The Philippines is looking to create a new base on the site of a former American naval air station at Subic Bay to increase its aerial surveillance and power projection capabilities in the South China Sea.
A new forward operating base that can support reconnaissance and attack aircraft will be established at Subic Bay International Airport according to Philippine Air Force bidding documents and development plans. While plans to fully develop the former American naval base were announced almost a decade ago, it was only this year that the service invited companies to bid for the project.
Previously the site of the U.S. Naval Air Station Cubi Point, Subic Bay International Airport was established following the broader American military withdrawal from the Philippines in the 1990s. Since then, both Philippine and American military forces have been returning to the area to facilitate resupply, refuel, and repair vessels. Subic’s port facilities also support the delivery of U.S. military equipment into the Philippines during bilateral exercises.
However, amid increased tensions with China over territorial disputes and a realization of its lackluster defense capabilities, Manila has committed to the re-establishment of military infrastructure at Subic Bay. With its strategic location adjacent to the South China Sea, the Philippines established Naval Operating Base Subic in 2022. This 100-hectare section of the former Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction shipyard, now owned by American firm Cerberus, became the Philippine Navy’s most important base. Since its founding, the base has been the only one in the Philippines that can support the service’s largest vessels.
Across the bay at Subic Bay International Airport, a similar story unfolded as the Philippines examined what facilities could be useful in their new military plans. Philippine Air Force documents on the project directly cited the proximity of the airfield to Scarborough Shoal and the South China Sea as the reason for the construction of the forward operating base.
Joshua Bernard Espeña, vice president at the Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, told Naval News that this new base at Subic Bay is a “significant leap” in the Philippine military’s efforts to develop joint operations.
“It also tells about the operationalization of the Philippines’ Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC) with the logic of filling the gaps of defending a vast archipelago; the key is a rapid and coordinated response, hence Subic being the classic location for the FOB,” said Espeña.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines has identified Subic Bay International Airport as a staging point for “Joint Air-Sea-Land Operations” under its strategic basing plan, which aims to identify points across the country’s vast archipelago to support and project forces beyond territorial waters and into Manila’s exclusive economic zone.
“The existing runway may be utilized by surface attack aircraft in support to both land and maritime operations,” stated the Philippine Air Force bidding document on the potential of the former U.S. Naval Air Station.
While bids put forth are preliminary, worth around $2.5 million and only covering housing and security upgrades, the plan’s schematics outline other future ambitions at the airfield, including basing for fighter jets, missile storage, and a large hangar that can support the service’s upcoming surveillance aircraft.
Documents also indicate the long-term construction of a dedicated drone and maritime patrol base at Subic. with bidding documents stating that the Department of National Defense’s Defense Planning Guidance 2020-2025 has directed the Philippine Air Force to “continue the full development of basing and hangars” for these reconnaissance aircraft at Subic Bay International Airport.
In recent years, the Philippines has received a diverse inventory of surveillance aircraft thanks to military modernization efforts and U.S. assistance. American-donated surveillance planes and procured Israeli drones have been utilized by the Philippine military in monitoring the South China Sea. Much of the footage published by the Philippines in its encounters with China over the Second Thomas Shoal has been recorded by the Philippine military with Hermes 900 drones.
Manila has also been receiving drone surveillance support from the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, with the latter beginning its maiden Reaper deployment to the Philippines on a rotational basis to assist combined intelligence-gathering efforts.
