AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. (AFP)
ARMED FORCES of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. on Monday expressed confidence that the acquisition for the additional 12 FA-50 fighter jets will proceed as planned.
“Yung pagdagdag natin ng mga FA-50s, (yun) 12 na FA-50s na jet fighters ay medyo mas posible na yun dahil nasa pipeline na po (the additional FA-50s, the other 12 FA-50 fighter jets, it’s acquisition is more possible as it is now on the pipeline),” he said when asked for update on the ongoing AFP modernization during a chance interview with reporters.
Earlier, the Philippine Air Force said it has submitted a recommendation to the Department of National Defense to acquire 12 more FA-50s as part of the AFP’s Rehorizon 3, which seeks to boost the military’s intelligence, area denial and deterrence capabilities.
These additional 12 FA-50s will beef up the existing fleet of 11 FA-50PHs which were acquired from the Korea Aerospace Industries from 2015 to 2017 from PHP18.9 billion.
However, when asked whether the government has already determined which multi-role fighter (MRF) is planning to acquire to further beef up the defensive capabilities of the PAF, Brawner said, they are still in the process of selecting one which is affordable and can best serve the country.
“But as to the MRFs, we’re still in the process of determining which one we can get according to our fiscal space, according to how we can afford these platforms,” he said.
The AFP chief also expressed hope that these assets will be acquired soon considering their importance to Philippine defense.
The MRFs are expected to augment the existing fleet of FA-50PHs now in Philippine service.
“Whether these are the F-16s (Vipers) or Gripen (Sweden JAS-39s) or whatever other MRFs, pinag-aaralan po natin yan (we are still studying about that),” Brawner said.
Brawner further said they are happy with the news that the US Defense Security and Cooperation Agency (DSCA) on April 1 announced that the State Department has made a “determination approving a possible” foreign military sale of 20 Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets to the Philippines for an estimated cost of USD5.58 billion.
But he said the Philippines is still to make a final decision on this matter.
Aside from the airframes, the contract includes spare parts, weapon systems, munitions, sensors and targeting systems, and training. (Priam Nepomuceno)
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