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MANILA, Philippines – An agreement that would bring multi-role fighter jets to the Philippine military, one of its most important projects, could be signed before President Rodrigo Duterte resigns in 2022, according to General Gilbert Gapay of the Philippine Armed Forces on Monday (December 7).
The defense department has yet to make public its choice between two types of fighter jets, the Saab JAS 39 Gripen or the Lockheed Martin F-16V, but Gapay hinted that they could be American-made F-16s.
“Soon, before our president resigns, we will finally have multi-role fighters like the F-16 in our Air Force inventory,” Gapay said at a Laging Handa news conference held online.
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The possible acquisition of F-16 fighter jets was one of the topics discussed by US and Philippine officials during the visit to Manila by US Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett in November, an official told INQUIRER.net. security aware of the meeting.
READ: Senior US Air Force Executive Visits PH to Boost Military Partnership
The new fighter jets would join the Philippine Air Force’s fleet of 12 KAI FA-50 light fighter jets from South Korea, the PAF’s first supersonic aircraft after the retirement of Northrop F-5 Tiger fighter jets. in 2005.
The PAF was once among the best in Asia, but its aircraft inventory had deteriorated over time without replacement due to funding problems and the painstaking process of modernizing the army.
But Gapay said the Philippine military is now “60 percent on par” with its neighbors in the region as it modernizes its systems, equipment, materiel and personnel.
“Once the ones in the modernization process materialize, we will somehow keep up,” Gapay said.
The continuing effort to modernize the Philippine military comes as the country faces aggressive enforcement by China of its discredited claims in the Western Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
Gapay said at the same briefing that AFP has monitored an increasing number of Chinese vessels in disputed waters and some have been found to be within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
“There are some intrusions in our territorial waters that were monitored and our armed forces challenged them,” Gapay said. “We are challenging these vessels that are entering our territorial waters,” he said in part in Filipino.
The improved capabilities of the Philippine military had allowed continuous patrol of Philippine territory, Gapay said.
“Before we didn’t have the ability to monitor, but now thanks to the modern equipment that we obtained through AFP’s modernization program, we were able to monitor,” Gapay said in Filipino.
“We enhance our maritime domain awareness capabilities and have established an effective military presence in the Western Philippine Sea,” he said.
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