The Philippines has signed a $700-million deal with the Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) for 12 FA-50 aircraft to boost the country’s air defense capability.
This is the second time the Philippines has acquired a squadron of South Korean light fighter aircraft.
KAI promised to deliver the aircraft by 2030, bringing the Philippine Air Force’s inventory of FA-50s to 23 units. The first 12 aircraft were acquired in 2014 and were all delivered in 2017.
This is the first big-ticket military acquisition project under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. after he revised the military’s modernization program in late 2023.
President Marcos’ wish list would cost the Philippine government a whopping P1.9 trillion, spread over 10 years until 2034.
When Congress approved the second Armed Forces modernization program in 2012, it had a price tag of 300 billion pesos divided into three five-year phases, called the horizons.
Former president Benigno Aquino III spent a little less than P100 billion. Aquino’s successor, Rodrigo Duterte, overspent by almost P400 billion, leaving no room for Marcos to maneuver with more than 100 projects left in the modernization program.
Thus, Marcos revised the third horizon. He drew up an ambitious P1.9-trillion spending plan to acquire multi-role fighters, close-air support aircraft, helicopters, submarines, frigates, corvettes, light tanks, missiles, radars, air refueling, airborne early warning planes, and electronic jammers.
The defense and military leaderships may acquire two electric-diesel conventional submarines and 40 multi-role fighters last unless the Philippines gets financing and multi-year payment schemes lasting 15 years.
For now, the Philippines will be happy getting a squadron of upgraded FA-50 light fighters.
The $700-million contract is the second time the Philippines has acquired 12 aircraft.
But for the Marcos administration, it will be the first time and the biggest deal to date.
The first batch of aircraft acquired under the late President Aquino had only basic features and lacked the necessary logistics and armaments.
Thus, fewer than five of the original 12 aircraft were operational. The rest were grounded due to a lack of spare parts, and one crashed in Mindanao during an operation against the Maoist-led New People’s Army rebels.
The Philippines is prepared to spend another $100 million to upgrade the older FA-50s, installing an advanced radar system, air refueling capability, and additional tactical missiles, like the integrated air-to-ground and air-to-air missile system.
When combined, the two squadrons of FA-50 will enhance detection and strike capability within the country’s air defense identification zone (PADIZ).
However, the FA-50s cannot replace a supersonic F-16 multi-role fighter or any similar variant as a primary air defense equipment for interdiction and air superiority.
When the Aquino administration acquired the FA-50s a decade ago, defense and military officials were then in the market for a lead-in fighter trainer (LIFT) that would transition pilots to much faster, more agile, and sophisticated multi-role fighters, like the American F-16s, the Swedish JAS-39 Gripen, and the French Mirage 2000.
Of course, the Philippines will not acquire a Chinese Chengdu J-10 Vigorous Dragon, or a Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum aircraft.
At the back of their minds, defense and military officials were aspiring for the top-of-the-line F-16s or a Saab JAS 39 Gripen.
But can the Philippines afford to acquire a squadron of multi-role fighters? With a limited budget, the Philippines cut a deal with South Korea for 12 FA-50 aircraft worth P18 billion.
The aircraft will become the Air Force’s primary trainer aircraft to replace the ageing AS-211 Siai Marchetti jets from Agusta Westland, which were acquired by Aquino’s mother, Corazon, in the late 1980s.
The AS-211 was also designed as a trainer aircraft, but served as an air defense aircraft for patrols and surveillance operations.
It was an AS-211 aircraft, piloted by then-Lt. Raul del Rosario, who first spotted a Chinese makeshift shelter on Mischief Reef in 1995.
In 2011, Del Rosario rose to become an Air Force major general and headed the military’s planning department.
Young air force pilots then still flew the AS-211 until the FA-50 arrived in 2014.
The makeshift shelter on Mischief Reef has been transformed into an artificial island with a three-kilometer runway and sheltered ports. Mischief, or Panganiban Reef, has become a virtual Chinese garrison.
Meanwhile, the Philippines still can’t afford the F-16s even after the United States offered to sell 12 F-16s in 2021 at $2.4 billion. It was twice the budget allocated by the government to acquire a fleet of multi-role fighters.
This year, the US, once again, wanted to sell 20 F-16s at $5.6 billion, only days after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Manila in late March. The price tag is too high.
Even if Washington provides a subsidy, it will not be enough to cover the cost of the aircraft.
The United States provides an average of $40 million a year in foreign military financing to the Philippines, and it is already the highest military aid to an ally and partner in the East Asia region.
Egypt and Israel were given an average of $1 billion in military aid each year.
For 2024, the US promised a special $500 million military aid and a separate $129 million for the construction of facilities in the nine Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) locations in the country.
These are, however, one-time military aid to the Philippines as it plays catch-up with its Southeast Asian peers.
The money cannot be used to acquire the F-16s, which were under a commercial deal and approved by the US Congress.
As such, the Philippines will be stuck with the FA-50s as a primary trainer and air defense equipment until the economy can sustain acquiring the multi-role fighters.
Defense and military officials agree the FA-50 acquisition is a stop-gap measure until such time when the Philippines can operate four squadrons of multi-role fighters.
Perhaps, the Philippines can start developing and deploying a swarm of armed drones as an alternative, learning from the experience of weaker states, like Ukraine.
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