The United States is moving forward with plans to establish what could become the world’s largest weapons manufacturing hub in the Philippines’ Subic Bay, once home to the biggest US naval base in Asia, to counter China’s expanding military presence in the region.
The plans got a real push when Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. inaugurated on Monday, September 8, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Philippines’ new shipyard at the former Hanjin complex, now renamed Agila Subic by American investment firm Cerberus Capital Management.
Backed by US and South Korean investment, the facility is expected to double the Philippines’ shipbuilding capacity to 2.5 million deadweight tons annually and employ more than 4,000 workers by 2030.
While Monday’s ceremony highlighted commercial shipping, officials noted the yard could also affect the country’s naval modernization.
HD Hyundai has already supplied the Philippine Navy with frigates and offshore patrol vessels and is positioning Subic as a regional hub for warship production.
South Korea’s ambassador to Manila described the shipyard as a “tripartite partnership” of Korean technology, US financing, and Philippine labor and geography.
Subic Bay as a strategic hub
The plan to turn Subic Bay into the world’s largest weapon manufacturing hub follows Washington’s deployment of advanced missile systems to the Philippines.
It underscores a deepening security partnership between the two countries under President Marcos Jr., who took office in 2022.
During a recent summit with US President Donald Trump in Washington, Marcos Jr. described the facility as part of the Philippines’ “self-reliant defense” strategy and a response to growing Chinese activity in the South China Sea, which Manila calls the West Philippine Sea.
“The defense of our territory and the exercise of our sovereignty are fundamental issues,” Marcos said. Trump added that the Philippines would soon “possess more ammunition than any other country,” including a wide range of missiles.
In recent months, the US Marine Corps quietly leased a 57,000-square-foot warehouse at the former Subic Bay Naval Supply Depot.
Subic Bay, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) northwest of Manila, sits within striking distance of China.
It is roughly 1,100 kilometers (684 miles) from Shenzhen and Taipei, 1,800 kilometers (1,120 miles) from Shanghai, and 2,800 kilometers (1,740 miles) from Beijing, putting it well within the range of China’s intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
The plan would establish a large-scale ammunition production and storage hub in the region, allowing rapid joint US-Philippine responses in case of a conflict.
It builds on Manila’s decision in 2023 to expand US access to Philippine military bases from five to nine and to host US ground-based missile systems, including the “Typhoon” intermediate-range system and the “Nemesis” anti-ship missile.
The move signals a shift from rotational training to a permanent US military presence in the Philippines.
“This represents the most significant US defense investment in the Philippines since the Cold War,” the US Naval Research Laboratory said in a report. (via interestingengineering.com)
