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recently, the philippine air force has attracted the attention of the outside world. first, it illegally intruded into our huangyan island, ren'ai reef and other nearby islands. our side organized naval and air force forces to track, monitor, warn and drive them away; then the philippine defense minister said that he would purchase 40 new fighter jets to deal with the situation in the south china sea.

according to aviation news, sweden's saab's gripen e/f fighter jet was recently selected by thailand, and now the company is turning its attention to the philippines, hoping to get a substantial new order from the country. philippine defense secretary gilberto teodoro said in august that the philippines may purchase up to 40 modern aircraft in order to form an effective deterrent in the event of a conflict, but he did not disclose the specific models.

the f/a-50 fighter jets introduced by the philippines.

what is the current strength of the philippine air force?

at present, the philippine air force is mainly composed of three combat commands and three support commands, with seven air force wings, a search wing, an air control wing, an air force special operations force and a logistics support force. it has a total of more than 200 aircraft. the main mission of the philippine air force is to defend its airspace, territorial waters and territorial security, while assisting in combating domestic terrorist forces.

the main aircraft of the philippine air force is 12 f/a-50 fighters developed by korea aerospace corporation ordered in 2013. the aircraft is a light fighter developed by south korea based on the t-50 advanced trainer. the aircraft uses an american f404-ge-102 turbofan engine, has a maximum take-off weight of 11.9 tons, a maximum load capacity of 4.5 tons, and a maximum range of 1,850 kilometers. it is a two-seat fighter/trainer aircraft. the aircraft is equipped with an american an/apg-67 pulse doppler radar with a maximum search distance of 130 kilometers and a tracking distance of 90 kilometers.

the aircraft is the first jet aircraft that the philippine air force has acquired after retiring six f-5 fighters. however, the air-to-air missiles of these fighters are only close-range combat missiles, and cannot carry medium-range air-to-air missiles like aim-120, which can perform medium- and long-range air combat missions. although the aircraft has certain combat capabilities, in the anti-terrorism battle in marawi in 2017, the bombs dropped by the aircraft deviated from the target, causing 13 casualties among the philippine army on the ground.

in addition to the above-mentioned f/a-50 fighters as the main force, the philippine air force also received 33 ov-10 attack aircraft retired from the us military in 1991, and later received 8 of this type of aircraft from the thai air force. currently, there are 5 remaining. in 2022, the philippines ordered 6 a-29 light attack aircraft from embraer group to replace the ov-10, and there will be more a-29 orders in the future.

in addition, the philippine air force is also equipped with 21 uh-1 utility helicopters, 16 uh-60 utility helicopters, and 24 md-500 light attack helicopters from the united states; 4 t-129 attack helicopters from turkey, and 2 more will be delivered this year; in addition, there are dozens of medium and light transport aircraft of various models. the philippine air force is equipped with a total of various aircraft from 11 countries, and most of them are trainer aircraft and light ground attack aircraft. the logistics support pressure between the various equipment models of the air force is extremely high, which indirectly leads to the very low actual combat capability of the philippine air force.

the f/a-50 fighter has certain air combat and ground attack capabilities.

three fighters to choose from

on september 3, according to a report on the belgian website air force identification, after winning the order from the royal thai air force, the swedish saab group targeted the philippine air force's order for 40 new fighter jets. currently, the philippines has the swedish saab group's gripen e/f fighter jet, the us lockheed martin f-16v (block 70/72) fighter jet, and the korea aerospace industries kf-21 fighter jet.

the gripen e/f fighter is a 4.5-generation light-purpose fighter produced by the swedish saab group. it is upgraded from the original gripen c/d fighter and is powered by a general electric f414-ge-39e turbofan engine with a maximum flight speed of mach 2. the gripen e/f fighter is equipped with an es-05 active phased array radar, which improves detection and tracking capabilities. the gripen e/f fighter is equipped with a 27mm cannon and can carry air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, precision-guided bombs and other weapons. the aircraft's electronic warfare system is very advanced and has jamming capabilities and threat detection systems. in 2023, the philippine authorities signed a preliminary agreement with the saab group. recently, the two countries signed another agreement, indicating that the philippines is seriously considering the possibility of purchasing the gripen e/f fighter.

however, the bidding process has not yet been completed, which leaves the possibility of winning the bid to two competitors, the us f-16v fighter and south korea's kf-21.

the f-16v is a 4.5-generation multi-purpose fighter developed and produced by lockheed martin (classified as a three-and-a-half-generation fighter in my country). it is the latest model and batch of the f-16c/d fighter. the aircraft has excellent maneuverability and is equipped with a general electric f110-ge-129 (block 70) or pratt & whitney f100-pw-229 (block 72) turbofan engine. the maximum flight speed can reach mach 2. the f-16v is equipped with an apg-83 scalable agile beam (sabr) active phased array (aesa) radar, which enhances detection, tracking and engagement capabilities. there are 11 hanging points on the whole body, which can carry a variety of air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, precision-guided bombs, etc. a 20mm cannon is also installed on the fuselage.

the kf-21 is a multi-purpose fighter developed by korea aerospace industries. the company's ceo classifies it as a 4.9-generation fighter, powered by two general electric f414-ge-400k turbofan engines with a maximum flight speed of mach 1.8. the kf-21 is equipped with an active phased array (aesa) radar and an infrared search and tracking system. in the initial mass-produced block 1 version, it was only equipped with air-to-air missiles and used as an air superiority fighter. subsequent versions will integrate various types of air-to-ground missiles, anti-radiation missiles, and precision-guided bombs, and a 20mm cannon will be installed on the fuselage.

gripen e/f fighter.

money and operational capacity are both issues

the main advantages of the gripen e/f fighter from the swedish saab group are low operating costs and easy maintenance, which are very attractive to countries with limited funds such as the philippines. however, the gripen e/f fighter is small in size and can carry relatively fewer weapons. in addition, although its es-05 radar has high technological content, its radar array is also the smallest among the above three fighters, so its ability to perceive battlefield situations is relatively low.

the us f-16v fighter has the advantages of a mature platform, stable production and the ability to be quickly integrated into the philippine military equipment system, which is mainly us-based. however, for the philippines, which has a limited defense budget, the high procurement and operating costs of the f-16v fighter (the unit price is close to us$200 million) is a very obvious disadvantage.

therefore, the kf-21 is obviously a more advanced option. it is said that the purchase cost of this fighter is between 70 million and 80 million us dollars, which is much lower than the fighters produced in the united states and europe. however, since this fighter has only recently announced mass production, whether it can meet the requirements of the philippines in the short term and be equipped with the philippine air force as soon as possible will be a big problem. in addition, the current number of equipment cannot achieve economies of scale, which will make it doubtful whether the maturity and stability of this fighter in terms of logistics support and combat performance can meet expectations.

the above three types of fighters have their own advantages and disadvantages for the philippines. as for which one to choose, it remains to be seen. however, it is a bit unrealistic to plan to gain a local advantage in the south china sea by purchasing 40 advanced fighters. first of all, the production cycle of 40 fighters is about 1-2 years. during this period, the domestic political situation, fiscal revenue and international exchange rate changes in the philippines will cause the final entry time to change constantly, and many projects of the philippine military modernization plan, "horizon", have been postponed or reduced due to lack of money. money is a very big problem. secondly, the pilots of the philippine air force previously used advanced trainer aircraft. it took some effort to replace the fourth-generation aircraft (my country's generation standard is the third-generation fighter), let alone the more advanced 4.5-generation fighter. it will take a long time to truly form combat effectiveness. moreover, if a relatively complete combat system is not formed (needing early warning aircraft, air defense missiles and command and control systems), these fighters will not be very effective when facing the air forces of major powers.