Air Force to buy fighter jets by 2011

[Jun aka Pekto]

ARE THEY REALLY INTERESTED ?

First the F-15 EAGLE then the MIG 25 nickname FOXBAT (cause its cheaper), then F/A18 HORNET AND NOW THE F-35!

Actually Pilipino pilots complete F/A-18 HORNET flights have concluded a four-days seven flight evaluation at the NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER-CHINA LAKE, Calif. 12 years ago na ito, pero walang nangyari.

The five Philippine pilots (Brig. Gen. De Los Santos, Col. Cruz, Capt. Bartolome, Col. Katindoy and Maj. Nemenzo) flew a two-seat U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18D aircraft from Hornet squadron VMFA-225 Nov. 17-20 at China Lake. Prior to that, they underwent F/A-18 flight simulator training at McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis.

The Philippine pilots were able to utilize the F/A-18's ability to fly at high angles-of-attack and maneuver the aircraft tightly through high g turns.

The last mission of the evaluation was the longest at 1.7 hours. The Philippine pilot wore night vision goggles throughout the flight as the Hornet conducted a simulated sea surveillance and maritime strike mission over a Pacific Ocean range off the coast of Los Angeles.

What next......The F-22 RAPTOR stealth fighter?

Who knows what they really want. But, giving them the benefit of the doubt, the newer taxes weren't in place 12 years ago, right? So, maybe now they're in a better position and really mean it.

At least, those test flights proved the Philippines have capable pilots who can fly the latest and greatest. It's really distressing to hear all the self-loathing.
-----------------------------------
But, the PAF has been in neglect for way too long. They need modern jets. Their uses may be debatable. But, the PAF needs them regardless.

I do have to ask if jets are useless, then why are most Asian countries arming and modernizing to the teeth when there hasn't been a conflict among them since what, when China made that incursion into Vietnam (after the NVA won back in the 70's)? Why do they see it fit to maintain an air force when they've been at peace for this long? I don't know the answer. But, they have maintained their militaries even in the midst of the Asian economic crisis while the Philippines' AFP went into disrepair. Most of them recovered while the Philippines is what, still recovering? Is there a corelation between their military and their recovery? Again, I don't know. But, I felt I had to point that out.

Add: By the same token, I have to ask why the heck does Singapore need tankers for air to air refueling? It's a nice capability. But, that island is so tiny they can fly around it within minutes. What's their gameplan?

[yebo]

I do have to ask if jets are useless, then why are most Asian countries arming and modernizing to the teeth when there hasn't been a conflict among them since what, when China made that incursion into Vietnam (after the NVA won back in the 70's)? Why do they see it fit to maintain an air force when they've been at peace for this long? I don't know the answer. But, they have maintained their militaries even in the midst of the Asian economic crisis while the Philippines' AFP went into disrepair. Most of them recovered while the Philippines is what, still recovering? Is there a corelation between their military and their recovery? Again, I don't know. But, I felt I had to point that out.

even tiny Brunei has a problem similar to ours. I personally know of an incident a few years back (sometime 2003) when our drilling rig was suppose to drill near the Brunei-Malaysia sea boundary. although the drill site was 1km inside the territorial seas of Brunei the Malaysians sent in their missile gunboats and we could not drop a single anchor. the Brunei navy only had small gunboats with no missile capability. shell brunei ended up paying for 2 months (duration of tow in and tow out) of rig day rate for nothing.

Add: By the same token, I have to ask why the heck does Singapore need tankers for air to air refueling? It's a nice capability. But, that island is so tiny they can fly around it within minutes. What's their gameplan?

Singapore has a lot of planes stashed in Darwin, Australia. you know, big air space, lots of room to practice unlike in tiny Singapore. those planes are it's "reserve" force, far from danger from a first strike and in a friendly commonwealth territory. it needs air refueling capability to bring those planes in in case of attack.

[redorange]

Any stealth fighter would be over kill for the Philippines since the strength of the stealth fighter is to attack/enter enemy target/airspace without being seen. If it's purely for defense purposes an F-16 would be one of the cheapest they can buy from the US with modern technology, the F/A-18 is newer and will cost more to maintain with the two engines. Two engines are better but can they maintain the aircraft with the added cost? Maybe F-16's and some A-10's would be better since they can use the A-10's for the insurgency battles as an attack aircraft and the F-16 for territorial defense. The F/A-18 can do both but having two separate aircrafts to do different missions may be a better solution. In car terms as a pilot told me the F-16 is a Porsche 911 and the F/A-18 is a Corvette. Whichever one they buy doesn't matter it would still be a very capable aircraft as long as it's not a Mig. I see both everyday along with F-14, F-15, B1, B2, & B-52 and they are all reliable aircrafts.

If they really want to scare the other countries just get a B-52. Nothing comes close to the sound of a B-52 flying above you ready to drop bombs on your head.

[userfriendly]

para mura mga china made jets nalang free lead paint pa
Seriously, they have developed their own fighter aircraft, the J-10 and FC-1

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/08/news/fighter.php

http://www.aeronautics.ru/news/news002/news095.htm

[Jun aka Pekto]

even tiny Brunei has a problem similar to ours. I personally know of an incident a few years back (sometime 2003) when our drilling rig was suppose to drill near the Brunei-Malaysia sea boundary. although the drill site was 1km inside the territorial seas of Brunei the Malaysians sent in their missile gunboats and we could not drop a single anchor. the Brunei navy only had small gunboats with no missile capability. shell brunei ended up paying for 2 months (duration of tow in and tow out) of rig day rate for nothing.

Singapore has a lot of planes stashed in Darwin, Australia. you know, big air space, lots of room to practice unlike in tiny Singapore. those planes are it's "reserve" force, far from danger from a first strike and in a friendly commonwealth territory. it needs air refueling capability to bring those planes in in case of attack.

I thought about Australia as a safe haven and it makes sense.

Malaysia seems to be quite territorial. More than likely, they'll get involved if the Philippines does something similar in the South China Sea. It'll get even more interesting if Vietnam and China also join in.

[Jun aka Pekto]

The F-16 has enough capabilities the Philippines may need: air defense, anti-ship, and even CAS if needed be. It's ubiquitious and parts are bound to be plentiful. More than likely there'll also be different sources. The PAF can always go with the lowest bidder.

I think the A-10's overkill. For the Philippines, COIN aircraft are more suitable. The Philippines still have serviceable OV-10 Broncos. Just because they're old doesn't mean they're not capable of the job they were made to do. There are suitable replacements such as Argentina's Pucara:


and Brazil's Tucano. The Tucano can also double as a trainer.

[yebo]

Malaysia seems to be quite territorial. More than likely, they'll get involved if the Philippines does something similar in the South China Sea. It'll get even more interesting if Vietnam and China also join in.

yup, those malaysians sure like to bully it's neighbors, the very reason why the sultan of brunei gave the whole territory of sabah to the sultan of sulu way way back. brunei's problem is not money but manpower. everything is free so why work, especally not in the armed forces. they got gurkas instead for an army.

malaysians also like to play games with singapore, like closing the water valve every now and then just to remind the singaporeans who's boss.

add ko na rin, we also drilled 2 wells for unocal philippines in the sulu sea some time ago, 2 km inside philippine territorial waters. guess who was there to watch our every move, malaysian navy. the philippine navy had to keep it's old ww2 corvete and 2 sokor donated gunboats all the time with us, ostensibly to keep off the abu sayaff but ended up more like to keep the malaysians from harassing us.

[Jun aka Pekto]

yup, those malaysians sure like to bully it's neighbors, the very reason why the sultan of brunei gave the whole territory of sabah to the sultan of sulu way way back. brunei's problem is not money but manpower. everything is free so why work, especally not in the armed forces. they got gurkas instead for an army.

malaysians also like to play games with singapore, like closing the water valve every now and then just to remind the singaporeans who's boss.

add ko na rin, we also drilled 2 wells for unocal philippines in the sulu sea some time ago, 2 km inside philippine territorial waters. guess who was there to watch our every move, malaysian navy. the philippine navy had to keep it's old ww2 corvete and 2 sokor donated gunboats all the time with us, ostensibly to keep off the abu sayaff but ended up more like to keep the malaysians from harassing us.

Hmmm. These are incidents very few Pinoys are probably aware of. All the more for the PAF to modernize.

A map of the region certainly puts things in perspective...... The Spratly Islands, the vital oil/shipping routes..... all within earshot of Malaysia.