Among Southeast Asia’s major countries, the Philippines recorded the largest increase in arms imports during 2021–2025, rising by 73 percent compared with the 2016–2020 period. This surge made the Philippines the world’s 23rd-largest arms importer, accounting for 1.2 percent of global arms imports, and the second-largest arms importer in ASEAN after Indonesia.
According to SIPRI data for 2021–2025, its three main suppliers were South Korea (42 percent of total imports), Israel (20 percent), and the United States (15 percent).
The Drivers Behind the Surge
The rise in Philippine arms imports has been driven by two concurrent developments.
First, the escalating confrontation in the South China Sea. Since 2023, vessels of the China Coast Guard have repeatedly obstructed Philippine resupply missions to Second Thomas Shoal through the use of water cannons, dangerous maneuvers, and direct collisions.
The situation peaked in June 2024 when China Coast Guard personnel boarded Philippine vessels and seized equipment, injuring eight people, including a Philippine Navy special forces member who lost his thumb.
The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) documented seven violent incidents between October 2023 and June 2024 alone.
Philippine defense spending increased for three consecutive years, by approximately 10 percent in 2024, 14 percent in 2025, and 16 percent in 2026. The government has consistently linked these increases to developments in the South China Sea.
Second, the country’s formal shift in military doctrine. In a speech marking the 125th anniversary of the Philippine Navy in May 2023, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stated that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) was recalibrating its focus toward external defense.
This shift was institutionalized through the adoption of the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC) by the Department of National Defense in March 2024, officially redirecting the AFP’s priority from internal security operations to territorial defense.
South Korea: The Largest Supplier
South Korea accounted for 42 percent of the Philippines’ total arms imports in 2021–2025, with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries serving as the primary contractor for ten new vessels under the AFP Modernization Program: two frigates, two corvettes, and six offshore patrol vessels.
The first corvette, BRP Miguel Malvar, was delivered in December 2024. The second, BRP Diego Silang, was launched at the Ulsan shipyard in March 2025 and entered service in December 2025. The two corvettes were procured under a PHP 28 billion contract signed in December 2021.
In June 2025, the Philippines signed a $700 million contract with Korea Aerospace Industries for 12 FA-50 Block 70 fighter jets, increasing its FA-50 fleet to a total of 23 aircraft. In December 2025, the two countries signed a follow-on contract worth 850 billion won (approximately $587 million) for two additional corvettes, with delivery scheduled for completion by 2029.
A Growing Procurement Pipeline
Existing contracts ensure that Philippine arms imports will remain elevated in the years ahead.
Deliveries of the 12 FA-50 Block 70 fighter jets are scheduled in phases through 2030, while the two additional Hyundai-built corvettes are expected to be completed by 2029.
The AFP Modernization Program’s Re-Horizon 3 phase, approved by President Marcos in 2024 with an estimated cost of PHP 2 trillion (around $35 billion), provides the long-term procurement framework for expanding missile, naval, and air capabilities.
In October 2024, South Korea and the Philippines also upgraded their bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership. With South Korea supplying 42 percent of Philippine arms imports and a contract pipeline already secured through the end of the decade, Seoul’s position as Manila’s leading defense partner is unlikely to change in the near future.
