[Military Subplane] Author: Golden Bomber
Some time ago, there was a serious confrontation between China and the Philippines in the waters near Ren'ai Jiao, with the Chinese side dispatching the coast guard and the Philippines dispatching regular soldiers and a naval special operations group. However, the Philippine side did not take advantage of the Chinese coast guard, but was seized of his guns, and one of the soldiers of the special operations team was seriously wounded in the finger. Some people have commented that this is just an ordinary maritime conflict between China and the Philippines, and if it were a military conflict, I am afraid that these Philippine special operators would have been wiped out long ago.
▲ Maritime confrontation between China and the Philippines, picture source: Internet
The law and order situation in the Philippines has not been very good, because there is a notorious terrorist organization "Abu Sayyaf" in the country. Founded in 1989, the group has long targeted the Philippine government and civilians. In 2015, Abu Sayyaf successfully attracted the attention of the United States as part of Operation Enduring Freedom's fight against foreign terrorist forces. The group has been linked to both al-Qaida and ISIL, which provide substantial financial support for its activities. The Philippine government has created a number of special forces to combat them, and the frequency of missions remains high. Philippine special forces are very busy fighting domestic rebel groups on the one hand and terrorism on the other.
At present, the special operations forces in the Philippines are mainly divided into three branches: the army, the navy, and the air force. The main body of the army's special forces is the special operations regiment, the first reconnaissance ranger regiment, and the light response regiment under the command of the special operations command. Among them, the special operations regiment has 6 special operations battalions under its jurisdiction, which are divided into 20 combat companies. Its supreme commander is a colonel with a strength of about 1,000 people. The main task is to maintain domestic security, and can carry out airborne and river operations, anti-riot and terrorist tasks. The 1st Reconnaissance Ranger Regiment was commanded by a colonel and was divided into 4 reconnaissance Ranger battalions of 5 companies of 50 men each. Unlike the first two special forces, which mainly carry out counter-terrorism missions, the light response group is commanded by a brigadier general or colonel, and the combat mission of this unit is more arduous, which is to confront and capture members of the "Abu Sayyaf" terrorist group.
▲ The 1st Reconnaissance Ranger Regiment, picture source: Internet
The main body of the Philippine Air Force Special Forces is the 710th Special Operations Wing, which is based at the "Vilamor" air base in the municipality of Pasay. It has jurisdiction over the 720th, 730th, 740th, 750th, and 760th Special Operations Brigades and the 770th Special Operations Support Group. The main mission of the 710th Special Operations Wing is to provide support to the Army and Navy Special Forces, including defending military infrastructure, dog search and rescue, counterterrorism and air strikes. It is equipped with fixed-wing aircraft such as the Cessna 170, Cessna 206 and C-23A Sherpas. It is equipped with helicopters from naval aviation, including AW-109, BO-105C, etc.
▲ "Cessna" 206, picture source: Internet
The Philippine Navy's Special Operations Group (NAVSOG), the unit that has previously clashed with the Chinese coast guard at sea, is based in Cavite City, with a total strength of 500 to 800 troops, divided into 11 "Navy SEALs." They are stationed throughout the country, but their main locations are the San Vicente Naval Base in the northern Philippines and the Zamboanga Naval Base in the south. Each "SEAL" commando unit is subordinate to several platoon-sized SEAL squads, and each squad has only eight special combat members, which is very well organized. They mainly carry out coastal and maritime anti-terrorist and counter-insurgency operations. Due to the surge in the number of Philippine maritime special operations missions in recent years, the Philippines has increased its funding and training intensity in preparation for a large-scale expansion of NAVSOG. The original cumbersome and complicated training process will now be shortened to just one year. The Philippine Navy's special operations group also has an extremely special force called the "Special Response Group," which has a higher level and authority and has independent "operational decision-making power." This unit is part of the Philippines' Naval Intelligence Wing and is responsible for homeland security and expeditionary operations.
▲ Malawi City during the crisis, picture source: Internet
In 2017, the city of Marawi in the Philippines was occupied by more than 500 people from the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf. Philippine special forces were jointly dispatched, and even with the help of the U.S. Pacific Special Operations Command, after more than five months of street fighting, finally recaptured the city at the end of October of that year. The battle was quite hard, with a large number of casualties. More than 200,000 people in the city fled their homes, including more than 200 terrorists. During the actual battle, the Philippines dispatched government troops and special forces, and there was even an incident of accidental injury, resulting in the casualties of 18 special combat personnel. However, the Philippine special forces have also accumulated a lot of practical experience, such as how to use 105mm guns in urban combat without harming innocents. For example, in order to throw grenades farther, they use a device similar to a slingshot to eject, etc. In view of the increasingly serious security problems in the country at that time, on April 6, 2018, the Armed Forces of the Philippines established the Special Operations Command (SAP) to establish a joint operational command structure for the special forces of all major services.
The supreme commander of the body is the commander, with the rank of major general. In 2019, the Philippine Special Operations Command successfully organized a hostage rescue operation, rescuing 2 British and Filipino hostages from terrorist groups. In 2020, the Philippine 1st Reconnaissance Ranger Regiment killed more than 20 members of a terrorist group and even captured anti-tank missiles, explosives and recoilless guns in the jungles of Jolo Island. Since 2018, the Philippine Special Forces have also repeatedly exchanged with foreign countries, received training from each other and conducted joint training, including India, Indonesia, Japan, Peru, South Korea, the United States, etc. So in terms of actual combat experience, the Philippine special forces are not bad.
▲ "Super Tucano", picture source: Internet
If there is anything that the special forces are subject to others, it is that the core weapons and equipment must be procured from outside. In 2020, the Philippines purchased six A-29B Super Tucanos from Brazil, which are not very high-performing, but they are inexpensive enough to provide close air support to special forces during operations. Previously, the Philippine 15th Strike Wing provided air support for major special forces with the OV-10, compared to this aircraft, the A-29B has better performance and can provide intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance strikes. With a maximum speed of 590 km/h and a maximum range of 3,000 km, it can take off from airports in extremely difficult conditions.
In 2019, Jordan donated two AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters to the Philippines, also to provide close air support. The Philippines itself has also purchased four Airbus C-295M tactical transport aircraft for the airlift of special forces personnel and humanitarian relief and disaster relief. In terms of drones, the Philippines spent $9.9 million to purchase 6 sets of "Scan Eagle" drones, and also introduced the RQ-11B "Big Crow" drone produced by the American Aviation Environment Corporation. Of course, other small arms (AR rifles seized by the coast guard) and armored vehicles are also basically dependent on external procurement.
▲ Philippine special forces take tires and gasoline barrels to be additional armor for armored vehicles, picture source: Internet
Because of the very limited funding and training level, there is certainly a relatively large gap between the special forces formed by the Philippines and the similar types of troops in the world's major countries. In the confrontation with the Chinese coast guard, the Philippine special forces obviously lacked momentum, and it was obvious that they were at the bottom of the line. Of course, even if they do do it, the coast guard's naval guns are not vegetarians. In general, the Philippine special forces are okay to deal with terrorists, and in the conflict with major powers, they are far behind.