Come December this year, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) will be flying and using two South Korean-made F/A-50 "Fighting Eagle" to defend the country's airspace.
The fighter jets would be part of the 12 F/A-50 bought for Php 18.9 billion by the Philippines under a purchase deal with Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI), signed in March 2013.
The two jet fighters are expected to be delivered by December while the rest of the 10 F/A-50s by 2016.
"We are looking at the early delivery of two F/A-50s. They will be combat and mission ready upon their arrival this December," Department of National Defense (DND) undersecretary for finance, modernization and materiel Fernando Manalo said on Monday in an interview with the PNA.
Mission ready means that the aircraft can fly immediately and do patrol and interception missions if needed.
Earlier, Philippine Air Force spokesperson Lt. Col. Enrico Canaya said that the soon-to-be commissioned F/A-50s, with relatively updated radar systems onboard, would do autonomous air patrols without relying too much on ground based surveillance systems.
"(The F/A-50s) has its own onboard radar systems so it can detect (any hostile air threats) while on patrol," he said.
Canaya declined to give the specifics of the F/A-50's radar systems for security reasons but stressed that it is quite adequate for air patrol work.
Read the full story at PTV News