As President Aquino bares Wish List to Obama
By Norman Bordadora
December 14, 2011
President Benigno Aquino III will ask US
President Barack Obama for F-16 fighter jets when they meet
April next year in Washington for a State Visit.
This was disclosed by Aquino during
opening ceremonies for the PAF Invitational Shootfest and firing range
blessing at Villamor Airbase on Saturday.
“We went to Bali, Indonesia, recently and as we were leaving for the
Philippines, we saw at their airport three F-16s parked and they would
be given two squadrons more by our American friends,” Mr. Aquino said in
an impromptu speech.
“I said, this looks rather equitable. Two squadrons for them, one ship for us,” he added in jest.
The President said he would remind Obama of the strategic partnership between the Philippines and the United States.
Obama has invited President Aquino to go on a state visit to the US next year after attending the ASEAN meeting in Bali, Indonesia.
“I think that when I and President Obama meet next year, perhaps
around April, I will remind him of our strategic partnership. They might
remember that we don’t have a fighter jet here,” Mr. Aquino said.
The Philippines recently acquired from the United States a
Hamilton-class cutter and has named the erstwhile US Coast Guard vessel
the BRP Gregorio del Pilar.
“The Navy will be getting—I am told, I have been assured—our second
Hamilton class cutter sometime next year,” the President said.
“And we did request that when it is given to us, they would no longer
remove the equipment installed for us to put back in place when it gets
to us and it appears that our request would be granted… Perhaps not the
entire system (would remain) but a lot of it,” he added.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Defense Secretary Voltaire
Gazmin during talks in Manila in November that Washington would give
the Philippines a second cutter "Dallas" from the US Coast Guard virtually for free early 2012 but some retrofitting and upgrading has to be made to effectively make it a naval vessel. The third one is expected to join the navy fleet in 2013.
The US recently indicated its preparedness to engage its allies in
East Asia and Southeast Asia to ensure the freedom of economic activity
and the implementation of maritime rules in the region.
Obama made the remarks when he was asked during a forum at the APEC
Summit in Hawaii last month what issues he would tackle and what goals
he wanted to accomplish when he attended the East Asia Summit and the
US-Asean Summit in Bali also in November.
In a separate news briefing during the APEC meet, the commander of
the US Pacific Fleet and recent Manila visitor Adm. Robert Willard said
the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) is an important sea lane that
is vital to the region, to US allies “and certainly to the United
States.”
Willard said the sea lanes that “criss-cross” the South China Sea
carry $5.3 trillion in annual bilateral trade, of which $1.2 trillion is
in US trade.
This is without a doubt a great thing for the future of the Philippine Air Force and the armed forces as a whole. However I must tinge this excitement with some realism.
ReplyDelete(1) The costs of maintenance are already a killer for the existing fleet for the country
(2) Budget for training overseas?
(3) Cost of future upgrades? (after 10yrs say - aircraft will need serious upgrades and overhauls - do we have these resources to do locally - i.e more money)
(4) What is going to be the role of the fleet? If air defense then where to base them? Basa AFB? If for interdiction in relation to Spratly islands or air to sea combat then will it work? Probably not
Would I rather the money be spent on cargo aircraft, heavy lift helicopters, COIN aircraft, attack helicopters and even a Super Tucano - YES!
Let's hope that they won't be like f-5s they once have In the past
ReplyDeleteThe Indonesian F-16s from the US doesn't come free. Indonesia has to prepare US$700 million for some upgrades from Block 25 to Block 52. There is no such thing as free donation, especially when it comes to fighter jets.
ReplyDeleteWould I rather the money be spent on cargo aircraft, heavy lift helicopters, COIN aircraft, attack helicopters and even a Super Tucano - YES! (This are all in the way like the PZL Sokol, 4 each to be deliver before year end and soft loans may be approved for the TA-50 Golden eagle for counter insurgency and training)
ReplyDeleteSir we need territorial Multi-role jet fighters for external and internal defense.
"Sir we need territorial Multi-role jet fighters for external and internal defense"
ReplyDeleteHello sir, thank you for your reply.
I just think that it is not possible to secure against most external threats. The major threat would be considered China, and no country in Asia let alone in the rest of the world can match them. To match the fleet and aviation elements they have would take decades and hundreds of billions - for what end? I believe a stronger ASEAN may deter them politically from threatening the Philippines.
Internal defense - Multi-role jet fighters - I'm not convinced they would be used. Air to Air combat with the MILF? Not gonna happen in my opinion. Though the good use would be for escort of potential civilian jet threats.
Ground attack jet aircraft on targets in the troubled south will not be any more successful than using light attack aircraft. The tactics of concealment and small highly mobile units of the MILF et al are very hard to target. I come to this conclusion based on the Sri Lankan Air Force use of fast jets against the Tamil Tigers.
How About One Of the European Made Fighter Jets?
ReplyDelete