The Division of the Navy is seeking to lease a climate-controlled facility between 19,000 and 33,000 sq. meters close to Subic Bay and Clark for the storage of kit within the Philippines by 2026 below a ten-year-long lease which may mark the biggest prepositioning effort thus far between Washington and Manila since 1992.
In line with solicitation paperwork on the proposed lease, this new facility can be utilized for “storage and upkeep of autos and automobile tools.” Whereas the Navy specified its choice for a 33,022 sq. meter facility, the minimal necessities embody 19,979 sq. meters. Each projections dwarf a beforehand leased 5,300 sq. meter warehouse at Naval Assist Depot in Subic Bay, which is ready to assist U.S. Marine Corps staging efforts within the Philippines and all through the area.
Navy paperwork specify that the climate-controlled facility should be inside 60 miles of the Naval Assist Depot and below the jurisdiction of both the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority or the Clark Financial Freeport Zone. The Port of Subic Bay, previously Naval Station Cubi Level, receives a flurry of American maritime exercise each Spring as U.S. forces surge into the Philippines for navy drills.
Subic Bay has been the latest focus of alleged Chinese language spies, who documented U.S. vessels getting into the strategic bay and tools being staged for Balikatan 2025.
If the challenge adheres to the Navy’s preferences, the scale of the deliberate warehouse at Luzon are bigger than Marine Corps Prepositioning Plan – Norway’s largest stockpile at Tromsdal.
Quite a few upkeep outlets for electronics, autos and communications tools had been additionally specified within the solicitation. Whereas the storage of munitions was not explicitly talked about, an ARMAG excessive safety modular armory facility is ready to be offered by the Marine Corps. Roughly 69-100 personnel are anticipated to work on the facility.
Amid tensions within the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, U.S.-Philippine protection cooperation has seen ever-increasing numbers of American troops within the archipelago to coach alongside their counterparts in drills equivalent to Balikatan. Nevertheless, these forces have needed to take care of an absence of infrastructure. The withdrawal of American navy bases from the Philippines over three a long time in the past additionally meant the departure of kit storage and upkeep services.
Lately, American investments in enhancing U.S.-Philippine navy infrastructure have expanded at Subic Bay and the 9 Enhanced Protection Cooperation Settlement websites. These choose Philippine navy bases enable rotationally deployed U.S. forces and American-funded initiatives.
If pursued, the lease will allow American forces to retailer and preserve tools on Philippine soil from 2026 to 2036. The solicitation additionally specified that the Navy seeks a lease with no renewal choices.
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