Thursday, August 29, 2013

Philippine Air Force to receive first two of twelve FA-50's by 4'th quarter of 2014

Artist's rendition of FA-50 together with S211's in Philippine Air Force-- Photo from filipina40's library in Photobucket.com
MANILA, Philippines--Philippine Air force expects to receive the first two of the 12 FA-50 lead-in trainer jets from South Korea before the end of next year.

The FA-50s would serve as trainer and fighter aircraft for the Air Force, which is a major beneficiary under the P75-billion Armed Forces modernization program.

“This [deal] is already approved in principle, and at this point, we’re now going into the detailed training of our team with the Korean team,” said Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Lauro Catalino Dela Cruz.

Filipino Pilots on-board S211 Jet Trainer
“Our target date is…it should have at least two initially by the end of the fourth quarter of 2014, and then the rest would be the following six months thereafter,” He added.

The Air Force retired its F-5 jet fighters in 2005 but failed to acquire replacements due to financial crisis that hit South East Asia.

According to Dela Cruz, after the first delivery, the remaining jets should be delivered every two months.

“Hopefully, we have it all delivered before the middle of 2016, if everything goes right,” he said.

Aside from the fighter jets, DND is in the market for (3) Multi-Purpose Attack Craft, (2) brand new missile firing frigates, (3) multi-role vessels (MRV), long- range aircraft, radars, coast watch stations, anti-submarine helicopters and other modern military assets.
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Location: Philippines Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, Philippines

5 comments:

  1. UnknownSeptember 12, 2013 at 10:22 PM

    do it really have to take that long for the paf to have that trainer plane? ibig sabihin magtatagal pala bago tau magkaroon ng f16 or better jets... andami pa bibilhin wala man lang pala plano para bumili ng ah64. eto mas kailangan ng troops sa mindanao e.acurate air cover.

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    1. UnknownSeptember 19, 2013 at 1:57 AM

      the FA-50 Lead-in Fighter/trainers that we are about to acquire are recently under construction, in fact South Korea's order of that craft just rolled out from assembly plant recently (our orders are next) these will serve as training platform for our pilots before they can fly more sophisticated jets. DND is in the process of acquiring laser guided attack helicopter read here: http://afpmodernizationnews.blogspot.com/2013/08/afp-to-get-new-attack-choppers-with.html

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  2. AnonymousSeptember 22, 2013 at 10:01 PM

    approve na ba to sir? Akala ko this august tapos na to e, may pirma na pero hanggang ngayon wala pa din. Saka yun sa attack helos. Armed scout helos lang yan. Not a true AH

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  3. UnknownSeptember 23, 2013 at 5:22 AM

    Ayon kay usec Manalo inaantay pa ng DND ang pirma ng pangulo para sa re-negotiation kasi nga binusisi di ba? kasi nung panahon pa ni GMA nagsimula yung project. Approved in principle naman na yan eh, meaning go na talaga, nag traitraining na nga sa South Korea yung mga pilots natin eh. Antay lang tayo, inaasemble na yan sa Korea as we speak. antayin na lang natin yung last quarte ng 2014 as stated on the article ^^ "Haste makes Waste" :)

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  4. UnknownOctober 3, 2013 at 1:51 PM

    This will serve as a good start-up in rebuilding our air force. sana ipag-patuloy ng mga susunod na administration.

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