MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Air Force (PAF) needs at least 36 more multirole fighter (MRF) jets, which is three times more than the current total in its arsenal.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. revealed this Tuesday during the Senate finance subcommittee’s hearing on the proposed P258.16 billion budget of the Department of National Defense (DND).
Teodoro said that the DND originally proposed P245 billion for the Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization program, but only P75 billion was approved under the National Expenditure Program.
Senator JV Ejercito then asked Teodoro what programs would be affected by this cut, and the DND chief responded that the purchase of MRFs would take a hit.
Ejercito then asked how many MRFs the PAF needed to adequately perform its mandate.
“I understand there is a need for us to procure more multirole fighters,” Ejercito said. “How many do we need?”
Teodoro responded: “The program calls for 36 plus four standby multirole fighters.”
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He then said that the DND is now in the process of inviting bids for projects such as the purchase of MRFs.
“We are in the process of receiving tenders coupled with financing packages from like-minded nations that are supportable with reliable supply chains,” Teodoro said, noting that the process should be done fastidiously as “many of our past sources of capabilities have supply chain issues.”
To date, PAF currently has a total of 12 South Korean-built light combat aircraft FA-50s in its arsenal after it retired its remaining fighters in 2005.
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