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Philippines requests secondhand US jets
Source: Agencies |
December 22, 2011, Thursday
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THE Philippines has asked the United States, its closest security partner, to give it at least a squadron of second-hand F-16 fighters to help upgrade its territorial defences, the foreign secretary said yesterday.
The Philippines has no air power to speak of, with its 40-year-old F-5A/B fighter jets retired from service several years ago. It has no bombers or surveillance aircraft and still flies Vietnam War-era UH-1H helicopters.
"We are just trying to restore our capability as it was before," Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said.
He said he hoped the fighters would be acquired through excess defence articles, a US military aid program.
"I think we are behind the curve ... we were far more advanced many years ago in military terms," he said.
Del Rosario said acquisition of the F-16 fighters would be among issues to be discussed in strategic talks in Washington in the first quarter of 2012, when Del Rosario and Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin meet their US counterparts.
He said Washington has agreed to supply larger ships and faster aircraft to patrol disputed areas in the South China Sea, as well as assist in setting up surveillance stations to improve the military's "maritime domain awareness."
Last August, Washington delivered a Hamilton-class cutter, the largest ship in the Philippine Navy. A similar vessel is due next year and a third might also be acquired.
As was the case with the cutter, del Rosario said he hoped the transfer of F-16s would be free of charge under the aid program.
The Philippines has said it will spend 40 billion pesos (US$941 million) over the next five years upgrading its military.
The Philippines has no air power to speak of, with its 40-year-old F-5A/B fighter jets retired from service several years ago. It has no bombers or surveillance aircraft and still flies Vietnam War-era UH-1H helicopters.
"We are just trying to restore our capability as it was before," Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said.
He said he hoped the fighters would be acquired through excess defence articles, a US military aid program.
"I think we are behind the curve ... we were far more advanced many years ago in military terms," he said.
Del Rosario said acquisition of the F-16 fighters would be among issues to be discussed in strategic talks in Washington in the first quarter of 2012, when Del Rosario and Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin meet their US counterparts.
He said Washington has agreed to supply larger ships and faster aircraft to patrol disputed areas in the South China Sea, as well as assist in setting up surveillance stations to improve the military's "maritime domain awareness."
Last August, Washington delivered a Hamilton-class cutter, the largest ship in the Philippine Navy. A similar vessel is due next year and a third might also be acquired.
As was the case with the cutter, del Rosario said he hoped the transfer of F-16s would be free of charge under the aid program.
The Philippines has said it will spend 40 billion pesos (US$941 million) over the next five years upgrading its military.
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