DND pushes deal for 12 new fighter jets from S. Korea
The Department of National Defense (DND) said on Saturday that it has pushed through with previously announced plans to acquire 12 more FA-50 supersonic trainer jets from South Korea.
The DND said it signed the purchase order with Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI) earlier this month, formalizing the $700 million contract.
The fighter jets will be delivered in phases over the next five years, the DND said, with full delivery targeted by 2030.
It was the second batch of FA-50 supersonic trainer-fighter jets to be acquired by the Air Force after it took delivery in 2017 of 12 FA-50s (Block 10) it ordered in 2014 for P18.9 billion, or $337 million at the current exchange rate.
Eleven of the jets, modified for the Air Force’s requirements and dubbed FA-50PH, remain in service.
One jet crashed in Mount Kalatungan in Bukidnon province as it supported ground operations against communist New People’s Army insurgents on March 7.
The crashed jet, based in Cebu, flew out Ebuen Air Base to support army operations in poor visibility and crashed into Kalatungan, the fifth-highest mountain in the country at 2,880 meters.
The crashed jet and its pilots were found two days later, still under poor visibility.
The Air Force said at the time of the crash that it would ground all its FA-50 jets pending an investigation, but the Air Force has not released its findings and instead announced its order for the second batch of FA-50s.
Based on Golden Eagle
Like the first batch of Block 10 models, the latest batch of FA-50s (Block 20) are based on the T-50 Golden Eagle, South Korea’s first homemade supersonic jet and one of the world’s few supersonic trainers.
The order for the Block 20 models is part of a comprehensive package that includes unspecified equipment and avionics that KAI codeveloped with US jet maker Lockheed Martin, the DND said.
Aside from South Korea and the Philippines, the T-50 platform is used by five other air forces in the world: Indonesia, Iraq, Malaysia, Poland and Thailand.
“Its acquisition marks a significant enhancement to the country’s air defense capabilities and aligns with the DND’s Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept,” the DND said.
The department said this underscores the Philippine government’s “continued commitment to national defense” and further strengthens its bilateral defense cooperation with South Korea. —WITH A REPORT FROM PNA
