The Philippine Navy (PN) is planning to use a locally made remote-controlled weapon system to further fortify its Fleet-Marine capabilities.
The Building a Universal Mount for Heavy-Barrel Automated Weapon Integration (BUHAWI) project was launched by the PN during its 124th founding anniversary in Manila on Friday, May 20.
The BUHAWI project is a collaboration project between the PN together with the Department of National Defense (DND), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Metals Industry Research and Development Center (DOST-MIRDC), and the Mechatronics and Robotics Society of the Philippines.
Through this project, experts from the DOST build an automated gun mount which will be utilized by the DND.
This is expected to reduce the importation requirements of the military since there is now a capability to manufacture gun parts and components.
Vice Adm. Adeluis Bordado, PN Flag Officer in Command, said this project will help the Navy to be a more reliable protector of the country’s maritime interests.
“Through sustained Fleet-Marine operations, we have maintained our naval presence within our country’s maritime zone and worked tirelessly to reinforce our amphibious capabilities to boast our adequacy in asserting our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Bordado said.
“The Navy’s assets modernization must complement the modernization of our facilities and the mindset of our personnel. The naval assets are useless without highly-skilled and versatile personnel. Without appropriate education, training and doctrines, naval assets will be meaningless,” he added.