Project Santa Barbara was a

missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket i ...

program developed under the administration of Philippine president

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

(1965–86) during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. The first successful launch was in 1972. The project was discontinued due to undisclosed reasons.

Background

Project Santa Barbara was initiated by the administration of Philippine president

and it involved the

Philippine Navy The Philippine Navy (PN) ( tgl, Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, , Sea Army of the Philippines) ( es, Armada de Filipinas, , Ejército del Mar de las Filipinas) is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has an e ...

and a group of scientists. It was conceived amidst the United States withdrawal of its armed forces in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

and in anticipation that the US would also withdraw its forces stationed in the Philippines. Under the program, different types of missiles were developed which are intended to intercept land, sea, and air-based threats. There were also plans to export missiles developed under the program to friendly countries. One of the missiles developed was the Bongbong rocket, named after the moniker of President Marcos' son Ferdinand Jr. The

National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding th ...

of the United States described the weapon as the Philippines' first

liquid-propellant rocket A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket utilizes a rocket engine that uses liquid rocket propellant, liquid propellants. Liquids are desirable because they have a reasonably high density and high Specific impulse, specific impulse (''I''sp). T ...

. The associated weaponry system of the Bongbong rocket is similar to the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

unguided

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

Katyusha. The 37 dynamic tests were conducted, with most of the test conducted on

Caballo Island Caballo Island (which means "Horse Island" in Spanish) is a bluff, rocky island located at the entrance to Manila Bay in the Philippines. It is about long with the highest elevation at 381 feet high. Caballo, along with the larger Corregidor ( ...

. Four of the test were made in

Fort Magsaysay Fort Ramon Magsaysay, also known as Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation (FMMR) and Fort Mag, is the largest military reservation in the Philippines, and is a key training area of the Philippine Armed Forces. Fort Magsaysay straddles the province ...

. The first successful launch under the project involved the Bongbong rocket. The launch was made on March 12, 1972 with the rocket retrieved from the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

. The project was discontinued due to undisclosed reasons.

References

{{Reflist

External links

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxHtd1XYaCw - A 1973 parade featuring the Bongbong rocket archived i
Ghostarchive.org
on 3 May 2022 Rockets and missiles Ferdinand Marcos Experimental rockets Philippine Army Secret military programs