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PAF wants 'more potent' multi-role jet fighters

Philippine News Agency

By Priam Nepomuceno
June 17, 2025, 3:42 pm

MANILA -- The proposed multi-role fighters (MRF) to be acquired for the Philippine Air Force (PAF) must have greater capabilities than existing aircraft in its present fleet, its spokesperson said on Tuesday.

"Right now, what we are looking at for MRF is definitely better capabilities than what we currently have in our inventory right now. So we're looking at longer range, better firepower, among others," PAF spokesperson Col. Ma. Consuelo Castillo said in a press briefing.

Asked whether the PAF is looking for among the so-called "Generation 4.0 and Generation 4.5" MRF now in the market, Castillo said this depends on the budget.

"Definitely the best we can have for the budget that is available," she added.

Generation 4.0 MRFs are fighter jets that are the first to use fly-by-wire control systems and digital processing to achieve advanced flying characteristics.

Meanwhile, Generation 4.5 MRFs used integrated avionics suites and advanced weapons to make the aircraft less detectable and trackable.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program has initially allocated PHP61 billion for the MRF project.

The PAF is currently using the South Korean-made FA-50PH, of which there are 11 in its inventory, for fighter and strike aircraft missions.

The Philippines acquired 12 FA-50PHs units from the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) from 2015 to 2017 for PHP18.9 billion.

One of the FA-50PH, with tail number 002, crashed while flying a night mission last March 4 in Bukidnon, killing both pilots.

Training for more advanced FA-50 units

As this developed, Castillo said efforts to train more pilots are now underway following the ongoing acquisition of the newer and more advanced FA-50 units from KAI.

Last June 4, the Department of National Defense and the South Korean defense manufacturer signed a contract worth USD700 million for the delivery and supply of 12 brand-new and more capable FA-50 light fighter jets from 2026 to 2030.

"Right now, the efforts of the Air Force, whenever we have pending acquisitions, we already prepare for them ahead of time. So the procurement of pilots, new pilots are ongoing. The upgrades of our current pilots are also ongoing. So we have, we are going to make sure that we have enough pilots to fly those new FA-50s once they come," Padilla said.

Aside from this, Castillo said the contract for these new FA-50s includes a training program for pilots because of the newer systems that are installed in these aircraft.

Asked if there are plans to upgrade the FA-50PHs to make them at par with the newer FA-50s, the PAF spokesperson said they are planning for this eventuality.

"We don't have specific details regarding that yet, the possible upgrade of the current fleet, but definitely, if time comes that we need to upgrade them, to upgrade their systems to be at par with this newer model models, we're going to have those, we're going to plan for this," Castillo stressed.

The FA-50PHs, which are capable of speeds up to Mach 1.5, are the most capable and potent aircraft in the PAF inventory. The aircraft is armed with a 20mm cannon, air-to-air missiles, and a variety of bombs and other airdrop munitions. (PNA)