Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said the archipelago had acquired a Spyder air defense system in 2022 as part of an effort to modernize the military. However, a photo circulating on Facebook shows other devices. Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems said the photo showed a new missile tested in Israel in December 2023, while a Philippine Air Force spokeswoman told AFP that the equipment in the photo shared online “not from us“.
“AIR DEFENSE MISSILE FROM THE PHILIPPINES,” read a Facebook post that shared the photo on May 17.
“The Launch of Missiles of the Philippine Air Force Spyder Air Defense Missile System.”
Spyder is a ground-based air defense system developed by the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos welcomed the Spyder defense system acquired by the Philippine Air Force in November 2022 (archived link).
Manila bought the equipment in 2019 as part of efforts to modernize its military (archived here and here).
Similar Facebook posts claimed that the photo here and here showed the Spyder defense system in the Philippines.
The posts circulated after thousands of Philippine and American troops took part in annual military exercises – called Balikatan or “shoulder to shoulder” in Tagalog – in various locations across the Asian archipelago in April and May (archived link).
The drills came as tensions soared between Chinese and Philippine ships in the disputed South China Sea.
One of the events in the war games featured the “very first meeting” of a US Patriot missile and the Philippines’ Spyder system (archived link).
Israeli missile test
However, Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Col. Consuelo Castillo told AFP that the equipment in the photo was “not ours.”
A reverse image search on Google revealed that the photo actually shows another missile being tested in Israel.
Rafael Advanced Defense Systems published a video of the defense system seen in the photo in an article about the testing of the new “All in One” Spyder defense system, conducted in Israel in December 2023 (archived here and here).
The Israeli Ministry of Defense also shared the photo on January 14, 2024 in a post on social media site
Below is a comparison of the photo shared in the fake posts (left) and the Israeli Ministry of Defense X-post (right):
The weapons company posted footage of the live fire test on YouTube (archived here).
Philippine fact-checking organization FactRakers also debunked this claim.
