With its relative updated radar systems onboard, the
soon-to-be commissioned F/A-50s "Fighting Eagle" is able to do
autonomous air patrols without relying too much on ground based surveillance
systems.
This was disclosed by Philippine Air Force (PAF)spokesperson
Lt. Col. Enrico Canaya in a message to the PNA.
"(The F/A-50s) has its own onboard radar systems so it
can detect (any hostile air threats) while on patrol," he added.
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.
Sources said this feature of the South Korean made jet
fighter has greatly boosted the air defense capabilities of the PAF which was
greatly reduced with the decommissioning of its Northrop F-5 "Tiger"
jet fighter squadrons and Vought F-8 "Crusader" fleet, in 2005 and
1988, respectively.
This was done due to air frame aging and lack of spare parts
to keep the two planes on operational status.
WIth the deactivation of its two premier supersonic jet
fighters, the PAF was forced to convert the SIAI-Marchetti S-211 jet trainers
for an air defense role.
However, the S-211s are ill-suited for air defense work due
to their slow speeds
The Department of National Defense earlier said that the
radar systems onboard the F/A-50s is one of the many pluses why the Philippines
The first two F/A-50s are expected to be delivered and
commissioned by the last quarter of this year.
The Philippines
And when questioned further, the DND official estimates that
the two jets might be delivered within the third quarter of 2015.
The F/A-50 has a top speed of Mach 1.5 or one and a half
times the speed of sound and is capable of being fitted air-to-air missiles,
including the AIM-9 "Sidewinder" air-to-air and heat-seeking missiles
aside from light automatic cannons.
The F/A-50 will act as the country's interim fighter until
the Philippines
The F/A-50 design is largely derived from the F-16
"Fighting Falcon", and they have many similarities: use of a single
engine, speed, size, cost, and the range of weapons.
KAI's previous engineering experience in license-producing
the KF-16 was a starting point for the development of the F/A-50.
The aircraft can carry two pilots in tandem seating. The
high-mounted canopy developed by Hankuk Fiber is applied with stretched
acrylic, providing the pilots with good visibility, and has been tested to
offer the canopy with ballistic protection against four-pound objects impacting
at 400 knots.
The altitude limit is 14,600 meters (48,000 feet), and
airframe is designed to last 8,000 hours of service.
There are seven internal fuel tanks with capacity of 2,655
liters (701 US
An additional 1,710 liters (452 US
Trainer variants have a paint scheme of white and red, and
aerobatic variants white, black, and yellow.
The F/A-50 uses a single General Electric F404-102 turbofan
engine license-produced by Samsung Techwin, upgraded with a full authority
digital engine control system jointly developed by General Electric and Korean
Aerospace Industries.
The engine consists of three-staged fans, seven axial stage
arrangement, and an afterburner.
Its engine produces a maximum of 78.7 kN (17,700 lbf) of
thrust with afterburner.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=727866
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