AFP mulls purchase of drones from US

MANILA, Philippines - The military will assess whether to acquire drones from the US following reports that the Obama administration is now open to providing allies armed versions of the equipment.

Armed Forces spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla said Washington has not made a formal offer on the drones, which have played a vital role in various counterterrorism operations.

“We have not received a formal offer. We can only give an appropriate feedback once we receive it,” Padilla told The STAR in a phone interview yesterday.

“We need time to study and assess the terms,” he added.

Padilla said there have been discussions in the military about the possible acquisition of drones.

“The discussion is still ongoing and there has been no decision yet. There has been no acquisition of this type of equipment yet,” he said.

Padilla though stressed the military would welcome anything that will increase its capabilities.

A security official said that while drones would boost efforts to track down terrorists, the government might not be able to afford them.

The official explained drones can be classified as tactical, operational and strategic. The tactical ones can monitor a limited area and can provide small images while the operational ones are bigger and have more advanced features.

The strategic drones, meanwhile, are the most sophisticated as they can conduct surveillance in another country.

“The armed drones are very expensive. The government may not be able to afford it unless it has political will to do so,” the official said.

The source explained the government is now acquiring drones for the Marines but these are tactical ones. The project costs P684 million and will involve the purchase of surveillance equipment to boost the Marines’ security and search and rescue efforts.

On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported the administration of US President Barack Obama would allow for the first time the widespread export of armed drones to its allies.

The policy was reportedly announced “after a long interview” and was described by the newspaper as “a nod to US defense firms scrambling to secure a greater share of a growing global drone market.”

The report said the US would lay out principles that foreign governments must comply with, noting that some regimes have troubling human rights records.

Only a few countries including the US, Israel and China operate armed drones, according to the report. The US has employed drones to combat terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan and Syria.

The use of drones has sparked controversy, with some groups claiming that it violates human rights.

According to the Washington Post, the requests made by allies would be examined on a “case-to-case basis” to ensure that the drones would be used properly.

The drones are not to be used “to conduct unlawful surveillance or [for] unlawful force against their domestic populations,” the report quoted a summary of the US policy as saying.

Citing a senior analyst from an aerospace research firm, the report said the drones commonly used by the US military cost around $10 million to $15 million each.