Philippine Air Force Gets 2 More FA-50PH Jet Fighters
The Philippine Air Force (PAF)’s fleet of FA-50PH “Fighting
Eagle” jet fighters has climbed to 10 with the arrival of two more aircaft at
Clark Air Base, Angeles City, Pampanga Wednesday morning, April 26.
This was confirmed by PAF Spokesperson Col. Antonio
Francisco in a message to the Philippine News Agency.
“FA-50 with tail number 009 touched down at 11:20 a.m. while
FA-50 with tail number 010 (landed) at 11:21 a.m.,” he said.
Francisco said the two aircraft took off from Saechon, South
Korea on 7:59 a.m. of April 25 and landed on Jeju on 8:50 a.m. on the same day.
After refueling in Jeju, it took off around 12:39 p.m. and
landed in Taiwan around 2:47 p.m. also on April 25.
Francisco said the FA-50PHs departed from Taiwan around
10:08 a.m. April 26 with FA-50PH with tail number 009 landing at 11:20 a.m. and
tail number 010 arriving at 11:21 a.m.
FA-50PHs with tail numbers 007 and 008 arrived in the
country last March 29 and were commissioned into service last April 6.
Francisco said the FA-50PHs are very useful for the PAF as
it can be used for territorial defense and pilot training which is important as
they are now focusing on the “generation” of pilots capable of manning
sophisticated jet fighters which the country is planning to acquire for its
military modernization program.
The first two FA-50PH units were delivered last November 28,
2015 while the second batch was handed over last December 8, 2016.
The third batch was turned over to the PAF last February 22,
2017.
With the arrival of the two jet aircraft, only two more
FA-50PHs are scheduled to be delivered by May, completing the PAF’s 12-plane
order from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) worth Php18.9 billion.
The FA-50PHs 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.
Philippine Air Force Gets 2 More FA-50PH Jet Fighters
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April 29, 2017
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