Manila to buy 12 Korean fighter jets

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said the country was close to finalising a deal with a state-owned Korean aerospace firm to buy a squadron of FA-50 fighter jets worth 18.9 billion pesos (US$438 million) – a move seen to bolster the country’s aerial power and defend its territory in the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

Aquino said he discussed the procurement of 12 brand-new multi-role combat aircraft from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) when he met with South Korean President Park Geun-hye at the Blue House, South Korea’s seat of power.

He said it was part of the commitment of both countries to improve their military cooperation, in line with a memorandum of understanding they entered into on Thursday.

“(These are) Korean lead-in fighters. The purpose of this (procurement) … is to maintain our ability to fly jets, at least for the Air Force to fly jets,” Aquino told the Philippine media covering his visit.

“We’re handling this as a G-to-G (government-to-government) procurement,” he said. “The Air Force looked at several models and after all of the negotiations, this is their preference.”

Aquino noted that the last jet fighter the Air Force had was the US-made light fighter F-5, which last flew in 2005.

“While we have (fixed-gear) aircraft, those are just propeller-types. So you slowly lose your expertise to fly jets,” he said.

The KAI website describes the FA-50 as a combat aircraft capable of carrying up to 4.5 tonnes of weapons, such as air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, machine guns and precision guided bombers, among others.

The aircraft is also equipped with a night vision imaging system with day and night capability.

 

‘Now we can fight’

Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, who signed the agreement, said the Philippines and South Korea would sign a contract to buy the fighter jets within the year.

He noted that the Korean-made military aircraft were more affordable than fighter jets made in other countries and that maintenance would be easier as spare parts for them were readily available.

Asked how the FA-50s would fare with Chinese fighter jets which fly by the West Philippine Sea, Gazmin said: “We probably can now fight them.”

Gazmin said the price would also include training for Filipino pilots who would fly them. 

He expressed confidence that the purchase of FA-50s would help the Air Force revive its fighter jet programme, which took a nosedive when the military decided to focus on buying helicopters and smaller jets for its counterinsurgency campaign and domestic security programme.

Aquino said there was as yet no definite delivery date for the military aircraft but that both Korea and the Philippines had pledged to expedite the procurement.

“We’re just finishing some things both in their laws and our laws regarding the procurement,” Aquino said. 

“The bottom line is that both sides agreed to expedite the arms purchase and the delivery of these planes.”

 

Defence cooperation

Included in the agreement both countries signed were cooperation in the defence industry, exchanges in military technology, defence-related experience and information, and exchange of visits by military personnel and experts.

They also agreed to share experiences in military education and training; research and development; logistics and maintenance; humanitarian assistance and international peacekeeping activities; military sports and cultural activities; and military medicine and health services.

Col Miguel Okol, Air Force spokesperson, said that at present the military only has four S211 military trainer jets. They saw action during military operations against Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) rebels who attacked Zamboanga City.

Okol said the Air Force also flies three C-130 military transport aircraft, 18 basic trainer airplanes, a fleet of UH-1H and MG-520 attack helicopters and eight Polish-made Sokol combat choppers.

“This is a welcome development because we can start our fighter jet program for our territorial defence,” Okol said. 

“For the past 11 years, the Armed Forces had focused on internal security and domestic security programme.”