Written by: Gerald Araco and Szarina Dela Paz Photo Courtesy of Anos Research Manufacturing and Lester Garcia
More often than not, national security comes down to the quality of equipment just as much as the brave soldiers that operate them on the front lines. In the case of military transport vehicles, Anos Research Manufacturing (ARM) has become a recent game-changer in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Program, having recently unveiled its brand new Squad Vehicle Charlie in Camp Aguinaldo.
While Anos Research Manufacturing has predominantly been a leading figure in the firefighting industry, where they manufactured and sold over 540 of its own trucks and apparatus since 1976, it has recently ventured into designing and supplying various classes of military transport vehicles, with the Squad Vehicle Charlie set to take center stage as the first among National Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-standard military vehicles produced entirely in the Philippines.
The Squad Vehicle Charlie (SVC) is ARM’s proprietary design of an Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV). It is a high-speed, all-terrain, light utility vehicle intended for a variety of applications such as troop transport, ambulance, firetruck, and as a weapon-mountable armored vehicle.
The initial SVC project started off as a design by ARM to develop a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicle to deploy against local insurgencies but soon evolved when the company discovered a far greater demand for general-purpose military vehicles similar to our previous military jeeps and our allies’ squad vehicles like the Polaris Dagor and the General Motors Defense ISV.
With a six-speed manual transmission, all-wheel drive, a 3.0 Liter Turbo Diesel Engine, and a weight of 2,800 kg, the Squad Vehicle Charlie has provisions for equipment such as radio antennas, gun turret, and mobile rocket launcher, depending on its intended mission objectives. Its modular design (removable doors, panels, and components) allows it to be converted into a full armored vehicle (and many other variations) in just a matter of minutes. Putting itself ahead of domestic competitors' vehicles in the same category is its nearly 50% lower market cost without any compromise in its operational capabilities, along with the fact that all aftermarket (replacement) parts are readily available on the global market. In short, the SVC is in a class of its own.
ARM’s goal is to be in partnership with the government similar to other countries’ programs with their own defense industry, much like how the US Department of Defense conducts business with the likes of Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics. ARM is promoting the revival of the Self-Reliant Defense Posture (SRDP) program through manufacturing, distributing, and exporting our own military vehicles, starting with the “Charlie” Squad Vehicle Platform with schematics and developments for larger armored vehicles already underway. This initiative will strengthen our local defense industry, generate local employment, open more opportunities, and ensure a sustainable defense industry that will benefit all Filipinos.
Of course, behind great innovations are equally great minds that toil relentlessly to bring them to life. UST beams with pride as the alma mater of ARM’s latest addition to the SVC development team; Lester Garcia.
A graduate from UST Mechanical Engineering (ME) Batch 2022, Lester Garcia was instrumental in strategizing SVC’s location deployment by determining what roles and functions would be best suited to the vehicle for AFP military objectives. Garcia, along with his father, Opet, was invited to be a part of the SVC project. Having owned an owner-type jeep, the elder Garcia, through his connections in their hometown, Malabon, Bulacan, was approached by ARM. At this point, Garcia was still a 4th-year ME student, totally unaware of the buzzing opportunity of a lifetime that would follow. But, as the powers that be would have it, his knowledge and passion for vehicles would allow him to make tremendous contributions to some major needs of the SVC project; a truly remarkable accomplishment made at such a young age.
As a ME graduate, Garcia noted that his collegiate program found direct bearing and applications in the development of the SVC.
“This project was [built] at the exact time I took Automotive Engineering as my elective course and as we progressed on building the SVC, the elective course guided me,” stated Garcia in an interview with Thomasian Engineer representatives.
To UST’s credit again, Garcia is not the only Thomasian graduate involved in the project. The SVC’s designer, John Martin Anos Garcia, is a graduate of UST Architecture while his younger brother, Stephen Anthony Anos Garcia, took up a Bachelor of Science in Commerce Major in Entrepreneurship at UST as well.
“Representing the Philippines is a big honor, combined with my passion and love for cars, [is] a dream come true. I would love to continue working and fulfill the goal to show the Filipino skills to the world,” Garcia said. As for future opportunities, he added that “a lot of opportunities may come but this, today, my dreams are in line with ARM’s focus and goals.”
ARM’s development of the Squad Vehicle Charlie sets a new precedent in the Philippines' ability to independently produce world-class military vehicles and equipment, leaving behind its history of outsourcing second-rate equipment from other countries. Although the SVC’s operational capabilities are yet to be put to the test, one cannot help but look on in awe at the groundbreaking strides made by ARM and its proud Thomasian members in overhauling and improving the AFP’s military assets to better uphold national defense, peace, and order in the Philippines.
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