The Philippine Army has upgraded its armor unit into a division-sized component, aimed at further intensifying government's campaign against threats to national security, local media reported Wednesday.

The new Light Armor Division (LAD) now has at least 500 armored vehicles with at least 5,000 troops, said a report by GMA TV.

"It has grown in size. It has reached the size of a division ( composed of about three to four brigades)," said LAD commander Isagani Cachuela.

Cachuela said the unit, then known as the Light Armor Brigade, previously had between 1,500 to 2,000 men.

"With the upgrading of the unit into a division, it would give us the ceiling for the acquisition of new armored assets in support of the government's counterinsurgency and antiterrorism campaigns," Cachuela said.

Armored units are traditionally deployed in combination with ground forces in the fight against leftist, secessionist and terrorist elements throughout the country.

LAD spokesman Vic Tomas said the upgrading was proposed and subsequently approved after gaps in the organization and the structure had been addressed under the military's Capability Upgrade Program (CUP).

LAD expects to receive more assets in the 18-year CUP project, which costs about 210 billion pesos (4.2 billion U.S. dollars), to complement its existing 500 Simba and Scorpion tanks, armored infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, said Tomas.

Source: Xinhua