RP 'to purchase fighter squadron'

RP 'to purchase fighter squadron'

MANILA (AFP): The Philippines is expected to start receiving
offers for at least a squadron of fighter aircraft by the middle
of the year to launch a US$12.7 billion modernization program,
the country's top military official said.

Gen. Arnulfo Acedera told AFP that the military should submit
a list of requirements under the 15-year upgrade by June --
"perhaps even earlier than that" -- after which it will
immediately start to entertain proposals by defense contractors.

The country's most pressing need "is a credible air defense
system" that would include an efficient radar, at least three
squadrons of multi-role fighters and an appropriate command and
control capability, he said.

However, as only 50 billion pesos ($1.9 billion) would be
appropriated in the first five years, the military might have to
make do with just one squadron, military sources said.

The F-16 and F/A-18 of the United States, the Mirage of France
and Russia's MiG-29 appear to meet the requirements of the Air
Force, Acedera confirmed, but dismissed local reports that the
choice had narrowed down to these aircraft.

Defense department sources here pointed out that the F-16 is
now the aircraft of choice of neighbors Taiwan, Thailand,
Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, among others.

The modernization law requires that new imported weapons must
be in use in their country of origin or in two other countries.
Congress must also vet large purchases.

Manila may well take the short-term palliative of acquiring
refurbished F-5 jets, since Acedera said "it takes four years to
take delivery" of new military aircraft.

Nevertheless, Senate national defense committee chairman
Orlando Mercado said the government must now review this option
because their "reliability and airworthiness may be doubtful."

The urgency was driven home earlier this month when an Air
Force pilot plowed a riverbank in the northern Philippines with
his F-5 jet, killing himself and a farmer on the ground when he
attempted to make a low pass at a military parade.

The accident left the archipelago with just four of the
Vietnam-era fighters. The high command had them immediately
grounded, leaving the country with no cover at all.

Manila did not have to take care of external defense until
1992, when Filipino nationalist rhetoric and U.S. budgetary
constraints forced U.S. forces to pull out after nearly a century
from Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base.

The immediate Navy requirements are missile-armed corvettes
and offshore patrol craft, but military sources say not one
manufacturer now stands out.

Acedera said the end of the Cold War and the winding down of
domestic insurgences with the signing of a peace treaty with
Moslem separatists last year has refocused the military's
efforts. He said he expects a dwindling communist insurgency to
make the peace within two years.

New concerns include international terrorism and regional
"flashpoints which have already been identified," he said,
referring to territorial disputes on small islands in the South
China Sea.

"Obviously, our modernization program would have to be
tailored to answer to that scenario."

He cited the "hegemonic" history of China, which was "a matter
of interest for all."

In 1995, China occupied a Philippine-claimed reef in the
Spratlys, an archipelago also claimed in whole or in part by four
other neighboring countries. Last year, Philippine naval gunboats
skirmished with suspected Chinese vessels off Subic Bay.