In the 1980s, the PAF was one of the best equipped Air Forces in South East Asia. At that time, they operated the F-5A/B, F-86, F-8 and a range of trainers, transport aircrafts and the like.
The PAF currently operates the OV-10 Broncos. However they also have some trainers, the 6 SIAI Marchetti S211 which is configured to be able to conduct air to ground missions and Aermacchi SF260 of which half the fleet are configured for Light attack.
Beyond that the PAF operates a single C-130H, two F-27, and one Turbo Commander for transport missions.
The decline of PAF's fighter fleet was largely due to budget constraints and a focus for the military to channel resources to attend to domestic threats. Hence, aircrafts like the Bronco were retained as they enabled the military to attend to militants internally. The fighter fleet declined until they were all grounded for safety reasons by 2002.
Even though currently diplomatic efforts are underway to resolve the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, the Philippines still needs a credible Air Force to defend its claims.
The PAF suddenly find themselves in a position of having to slap together a Fighter fleet on a budget and in as small a time-frame as possible if it wants to be able to transition from internal security to territorial defence.
In mid 2012, a DND spokesperson announced that the Philippines is looking outside the US to meet this needs. Currently the PAF is rumored to be in the market for as many as two squadrons of fighters. France, the UK, Italy and South Korea are among the candidates in consideration.
The leading candidate is the Korean Aerospace Industries' FA-50. Initially it was rumoured that the Philippines might procure the T-50 (the trainer variant of the FA-50), but later announcements revealed that the Philippine government is hoping to hoping to commence final negotiations in Feb 2013. Negotiations are expected to last 6 months and the PAF can expect to receive the FA-50 from 2015.
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KAI's FA-50
The Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) might be able to expedite delivery forward to 2013-2014 but they are occupied delivering 20 of these to the South Korean Government in a $600m deal.
The FA-50 is considered an advanced fighter and can be equipped with the Link 16 tactical link, Elta Systems EL/M-2032 pulse Doppler radar, radar warning systems and a night vision imagery system. Northrop Grumman and Raytheon previously selected the FA-50 as a prime candidate for being outfitted with the same version of active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar slated for use in a United States Air Force F-16 upgrade.
The FA-50 is built to carry a weapon’s payload of 9,920 pounds that includes Boeing’s Joint Direct Attack Munitions and Textron’s CBU-97 Sensor Fused Weapon. In addition, the FA-50 is also fitted with a 20mm cannon and is configured to carry air-to-air missiles.
A delivery in 2015 might not be optimal for the PAF's needs, and unless they can come in some sort of agreement with the South Korean Government to bump them up in the queue, the PAF might need to consider alternatives to to their fighter needs.
I thought this T-50 trainer jet is already on the way deliveries in 2014... So many confusing information roaming around the net. I don't know which is which. But this trainer jet is a good choice for PAF.
ReplyDeleteHi, Thank you for your comments.
DeleteThe negotiations for the acquisition of the FA-50s for the PAF are still ongoings.
As far as we know nothing has been finalised yet.
However over the past few days, Korean Aerospace Industries have announced that they have received a contract from the Korean Air Force for another batch of FA-50s for the Koreans. This will possibly push the Philippine order further back in the queue.
Correcting myself... Its KAI's FA-50 for delivery in 2014 and not T-50 i mean.
ReplyDelete