Imagine you’re the one who calls the shots. Someone reported that your radar detected a drone. You know what you have to do. With a single command, an interceptor launches upward to destroy the target.
Problem solved, right? Wrong. These small, cheap systems are stubborn, and they run on numbers. What do you do? You keep calling the shots, of course. Because you have to.
One shot. Paid.
Another. Paid.
And another. Paid.
It doesn’t just stop. And just like that, you’ve spent a million dollars… or maybe a couple billion. Yet your enemy’s losses didn’t even come close. The very thing that you were trying to destroy costs less than what you used to destroy it.
Now the question is, who actually won?
Here’s the thing: In the early ages of war, having the most upgraded weapons would make the god of war lean in your favor. But the theater of warfare has changed its set and added new actors. And it’s not even a question of who was cast, but of what.
The arena of warfare has evolved as it continues to adapt to constant technological modernization.
The landscape has changed, too. Exchanges now extend beyond traditional military terrain and rise above the horizon into the air. We are now entering the age of war in the air. Surely, you have seen the headlines from various news sites: GUNS ARE OUT, DRONES ARE TAKING OVER!
This is an exaggeration, of course. But flying robots surveying the sky and intercepting each other are now part of our morning newspaper. So hold on tight to your coffee. War has finally entered an era: the rise of drones. From artificial intelligence to autonomous systems, these are now shaping how wars are fought.
In this new dawn of aerial warfare — versus boots on the ground — endurance is what matters most. This principle has shifted how a country should fight for itself.
With the rise of these systems, countries are compelled to invest in their resources. And suddenly, winning isn’t about strength anymore– it’s about who can economically sustain the exchange.
And no, this concept is not new to the field. Militaries have understood the logic of forcing an opponent to overspend since as far back as World War I. A strategy of bleeding the enemy’s resources faster than they can replace them. That’s the kind of ratio that tilts the scale against them. The only thing new in this setup is where it’s being played out: the sky, and the price tag attached to defending it.
Ukraine– all eyes have been on them for years now. And it can’t be helped. They have gone from a country conditioned to rely on another for defense to actually leading and filling the headlines, releasing thousands of cheap, expendable drones that have helped them economize their military spending. And everyone is taking notes. For example, South Korea effectively scrapped a $2.2 billion purchase of 36 additional Apache attack helicopters. Japan has taken a similar direction, transferring the functions of its attack and observation helicopters to UAVs while retaining necessary helicopter capabilities.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Army canceled its Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program after more than $2 billion in development. Army Chief Gen. Randy George said the Army acknowledged the shift in aerial reconnaissance. He even added, “Sensors and weapons mounted on a variety of unmanned systems and in space are more ubiquitous, further reaching and more inexpensive than ever before.” This further shows that the players in the arena have decided to unlock a new level and add unmanned systems to their inventories.
The one who calls the shots has changed their mindset. The logic is now to destroy enough of the adversary’s resources and people until they have nothing left to sustain the fight. The center of gravity has shifted from battlefield performance to industrial endurance.
Winning is no longer determined only by better soldiers, devised tactics, and even esteemed legacy systems. Modern warfare is now about outproducing, not just outfighting.
But there’s a catch.
Let’s say you successfully produced these systems. Is that where it ends? There’s one ingredient you need first for any of this to work: the ability to sustain it. Producing it is easy. Producing it constantly and quickly enough is the actual challenge.
This is exactly why regeneration beats precision. No matter how you try to refine a weapon system or recruit and train thousands of people, both consume too much time. By the time they’re complete, the adversary has already worn you out. In a prolonged fight, time matters. It shows that even the most advanced systems lose value the moment they can’t be replaced as fast as they are consumed.
You might be wondering: Does this mean warships and legacy systems have no place in modern warfare? Of course, not. They still matter. The god of war just leans toward whoever can make every exchange cost the other side more than it costs them.
However, hardware and tactics aren’t the only legacy systems still standing. Legal frameworks are as relevant and crucial in the field. It may not attack, but its power lies in deciding when an act is already crossing the line.
And that’s the reality the Philippines faces.
Most of the time, the Philippines forgets that it lies at the very center of the Indo-Pacific, where its waters carry the world’s crucial exchanges, from global shipping lanes to military confrontation.
The Philippines should recognize the power of its position and begin choosing how to use and safeguard it. There’s a reason so many forces outside the region keep coming around these very waters. Hence, the importance of realizing that position is leverage, but only to those who recognize it as such and make moves to keep it as it is.
Going back to the headlines, one prominent topic that has the world on standby is the West Philippine Sea conflict.
The 2016 arbitral ruling clarified the Philippines’ maritime rights and entitlements under UNCLOS, including within areas of its exclusive economic zone. This gave the country international legitimacy in claiming its rights there.
Now, let’s create an equation: legitimacy + proximity- what does it equate to? It magnifies the Philippines’ force in these waters in a way a distant force cannot match. Whoever tries to be the latter must invest time and effort, at a cost. This is a tax that the Philippines pays none of because it’s already here.
The Philippines already has the geographic upper hand. It just needs further support, because sustaining a defense demands presence— to keep showing up. That brings us back to the ability to self-sustain, especially with a system that can be easily deployed and replaced and stays ready as long as the mission runs.
This is where Klick Drone comes in, and they’re bringing REEF-10 with them.
The mission was never simply to build a good drone. It’s to build one that fits a production model capable of keeping pace with what sustained defense actually demands.
The REEF-10 sUAS is lightweight and built for ease of manufacturing and assembly. It is designed to be deployed, complete its mission, and return. But in a war, losses are expected, just as the system is intended to be. Even if one after another gets shut down, the system is designed around the ability to replace losses without compromising the entire mission, especially since: (1) its cost is low enough; (2) it’s deployed and manufactured where it’s needed to be.
The equation now becomes: proximity + capability = operational advantage. We started with you calling the shots, where every interceptor launched bleeds you dry with every shot. Inverting those factors reveals what this equation is designed to solve. By combining the right capability with the existing advantage, it cuts down the math on all the other costs those who are distant have.
The country has seen this before. As MGen Ivan Dr Papera PN(M), Chief of the AFP Systems Engineering and Modernization Office (AFPSEMO), stated, “We saw this already under the old SRDP, when we produced small arms and were part of trade deals. The industry died because it wasn’t sustained.”
For a country to fully defend itself, it must be able to sustain itself. He added, “Eventually, we will have our own capabilities that are partnered with local industries. Our dependence and reliance on foreign suppliers in the future, hopefully, will change.”
This is the kind of future we should achieve by leveraging the advantage we already have. Because that’s worth building at home.
The good news is, the Philippines is already starting to build this.
Slowly, the Philippines has entered an era where it recognizes what it has and is working to use it.
That shift alone is worth paying attention to.