DND rushes acquisition of 4 trainer jets from South Korea

From InterAksyon (Jul 5): DND rushes acquisition of 4 trainer jets from South Korea

The Department of National Defense is rushing to acquire four of the Korean-made FA50 Golden Eagle trainer jets in order to start the training of Philippine Air Force (PAF) pilots, a ranking DND official said Friday.

Fernando Manalo, Undersecretary for Finance, Munitions, Installations and Materiel, said in a news briefing at Camp Aguinalo, “We are negotiating for the immediate delivery of a certain number out of the 12 [jets] we are going to procure. We are hoping we can get at least four so our pilots can start their training.”

Earlier, the Air Force said it planned to purchase 12 FA50s using an P18.9-billion budget drawn from the P75-billion budget approved by President Benigno Aquino III for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) upgrade program amid rising tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Manalo had indicated earlier they projected acquisition to be on government-to-government basis as soon as the defense acquisition team forged an agreement with KAI for the full disclosure of the specifications of the units the PAF intends to buy.

“Once we get confirmation of the sales agreement and once we get the multi-year obligational authority from [the] DBM (Department of Budget and Management), we can start formal negotiations and we can schedule the delivery of at least four fighter jets,” Manalo said.

Earlier reports had said that Patrick Velez, Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, Installations and Logistics (OASAIL), flew to Israel together with some representatives from the Technical Working Groups (TWGs) of PAF to shop for, and possibly strike a purchase agreement with suppliers of, missiles system.

It was not clear, however, if the Velez team was able to forge an agreement with reported suppliers such as the Israel Military Industries, Ltd and Rafael Advance Defense Systems, which manufacture phyton and derby air-to-air missiles.

According to a source at DND, the aircraft acquisition team was actually eyeing the “spider” missiles system. The missiles will be used for the trainer jets. Besides the aircraft, DND was also reportedly aiming to buy mobile surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) for “minimum territorial defense”.

The DND recently unveiled a range of defense project acquisitions as Malacanang prepares for the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of Aquino. Officials had explained that the point of all the acquisitions is to lay down the basis for a “credible territorial defense,” and not to go to war with China, with which the Philippines has had very public exchanges over territorial disputes, especially concerning the resource-rich Spratlys island chain.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/65677/dnd-rushes-acquisition-of-4-trainer-jets-from-south-korea