Philippines told to boost anti-drone system

THE PHILIPPINES should boost its antidrone capability to counter aerial threats used in geopolitical disputes, according to defense analysts.

Chester B. Cabalza, who studied national security and policymaking at the University of Delaware, said both state and nonstate actors have increasingly been using drones “for their violent activities due to their accessibility and pronounced use in war.”

“The sophistication of this high technology will also lead to the rise of artificial intelligence and robotics to advance the level of warfare,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

The Israeli government on Monday shared with the Philippines its best practices in countering threats from “very developed” drones.

“Every organization here in the Philippines has its own asset that needs to be defended,” Israel Ambassador Ilan Fluss told reporters before holding a closed-door meeting with Philippine security officials.

At the meeting, representatives from state-owned and private companies in Israel offered anti-drone technologies and shared practices in keeping drone threats at bay.

“It is a process, shaping policy, identifying what are the challenges, where are the issues, what kind of solutions and only at the end you look at the technologies,” Israel Defense Attaché to the Philippines Raz Shabtay told a news briefing. “For that, we have the Israeli companies to present the technologies and so it’s much wider than just bringing a company.”

“We have here not only the military, but different civil departments or entities because it’s an all-government approach here.”

The anti-drone seminar in the Philippines was held weeks after Taiwan shot down an unidentified civilian drone that entered its airspace near Lion islet, which is just a few kilometers away from mainland China.