Philippines Plans To Buy 12 More FA-50 Fighters From South Korea

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has planned to double the size of Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) fleet of fighter jets by buying 12 more FA-50PH aircraft from South Korea.

“I want to build a strong nation,” the President was quoted by news portal Inquirer.net as saying in his recent speech, adding that he hopes to supplement that with modern equipment for the police.

The Air Force currently has 12 supersonic FA-50PHs.

The Philippines bought 12 FA-50H jets from the Korean Aerospace Industry for P18.9 billion during the Aquino administration.

The jets were purchased as part of the AFP’s modernization program.

“I assure you that we will build on our past gains to further strengthen the Philippine Air Force,” Duterte said at the 70th anniversary of the PAF.

Duterte also wants to add 20,000 soldiers to the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to secure other parts of the country as the military focuses on retaking Marawi from terrorists, Malacañang said on Sunday.