The Philippines currently operates 12 FA-50PHs and six A-29B Super Tucanos, which will be doubled with the new acquisitions amid continuing tensions in the West Philippines Sea.
The Philippines is reportedly considering the acquisition of an additional 12 South Korean-origin KAI (Korea Aerospace Industries) FA-50 Fighting Eagle light fighters, “amid continuing tensions in the West Philippines Sea,” reported the local news outlet Inquirer. Other acquisition plans include six Embraer A-29 Super Tucano aircraft and an aeromedical Bell 412EPX helicopter for emergency medical and casualty evacuation. The deals would effectively double both the FA-50 and A-29 fleets.
Quoting a “Procurement Monitoring Report” from the Department of National Defense (DND), Inquirer added that Manila and Seoul are “ironing out the terms of reference for the government-to-government deal,” and put the cost of the program at $690 million.
The FA-50PH, as the FA-50 is designated locally, is the most advanced fighter in the PAF inventory that the country can use as it contests a conflicting maritime boundary before China, which has been militarily asserting its territorial claims. Persistent clashes have been reported between Chinese and Philippines coast guard ships, when the latter runs supplies to the grounded Sierra Madre ship, now functioning as an outpost.
So it’s confirmed.
The @PhilAirForce 🇵🇭 will indeed acquire 12 additional brand new FA-50PH Block 20 fighter aircraft from @KoreaAerospace_ Industries (KAI) 🇰🇷. As been written by sir @MonteroMax, the signing of the contract is expected to be done by 1st half of this year. 🇵🇭🤝🇰🇷 https://t.co/HjikWbkm4a pic.twitter.com/OSAp0dg9I3
— eyorio 🇵🇭🇺🇲🇰🇷🇮🇱🇹🇷🇮🇳🇯🇵🇸🇪 (@oyasumichunmoo) January 20, 2025
PAF FA-50 fleet
The Philippines presently operates 12 FA-50s, designated the FA-50PH, which were acquired for $402 million. The first two jets touched down at Clark Air Base on Nov. 28, 2015 and the final two at the same location on May 31, 2017. The Inquirer added that, beside “patrol missions across the country,” the FA-50 light fighters were “game changers” in the five-month Siege of Marawi against ISIS and its linked extremist groups. PAF OV-10 Broncos and AH-1S Cobras also played a significant role in the conflict, providing CAS (Close Air Support) during the heavy urban battle.
Currently, more than 250 T-50 aircraft (the basic aircraft upon which the FA-50 is based) are in service around the world in multiple roles, including aerobatic, training, and combat variants. The operators include Iraq, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Poland and Malaysia, besides South Korea. Formal delivery contracts had been signed with Malaysia in 2023 for 18 of the latest FA-50 Block 20 variant and Poland in Jul. 28, 2022.
Of these, Thailand, Iraq, and Indonesia are using sub-variants of the T-50 trainer version, while Malaysia, the Philippines, and Poland operate the FA-50 light fighter/attack version. The Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF), meanwhile, operates both the T-50 and the FA-50, with the largest fleet of nearly 120 jets. The jet is also quickly evolving into a capable light ground attack and fighter jet and a lead-in fighter trainer (LIFT).
Developed as a joint project between Lockheed Martin and KAI and based on the T-50 Golden Eagle advanced jet trainer aircraft, the FA-50 is a strike and light fighter variant, featuring a longer radome, a tactical data link, advanced avionics and greater internal fuel capacity. With a length of 43 feet and a wingspan of 31 feet, the FA-50 is armed with 20 mm cannon and can carry guided air-to-ground and air-to-surface munitions.
It is powered by a General Electric F404-GE-102 afterburning turbofan engine which offers 17,700 lb (78.7 kN) of thrust, which can propel it to Mach 1.5. At the time of development, reports said South Korean defense firm LIG Nex1 would be indigenously developing a radar, based on Israel’s Elta systems EL/M-2032 mechanically-scanned radar.
On May 2023, Raytheon Technologies reported that it was selected by KAI to outfit the RoKAF’s (Republic of Korea Air Force) FA-50 fleet with the new PhantomStrike GaN (Gallium Nitride) AESA radar. FlightGlobal said, in Jul. 2024, that KAI had been looking at existing customers like Indonesia and Thailand, beside the Philippines, to potentially sell additional FA-50s. The publication also reported the current plan to procure the additional FA-50s which has been confirmed now, adding that these would possess the PhantomStrike radar.
All 6 A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft for the Philippine Air Force have arrived in Gran Canaria, Canary Islands as it continues its delivery transit to the Philippines. Next stop: Portugal.
Photos credited to and taken from Spanish planespotter Antonio Rodriguez. pic.twitter.com/TOMdxXzq5D
— Max Montero (@MonteroMax) September 6, 2020
Other procurements
The pressing defense needs had also prompted a decision to buy six additional A-29B Super Tucanos from Brazilian defense major Embraer in Dec. 2024 for the PAF’s 15th Strike Wing, the DND document accessed by the Inquirer revealed. The Super Tucanos replaced the OV-10 Broncos as a part of the Horizon 1 program to progressively modernize the PAF. Six aircraft were ordered and reached the Philippines in Sep. 2020. Interestingly, while the Philippine Air Force announced it would acquire the six additional aircraft, Embraer announced that an undisclosed customer acquired six A-29 Super Tucanos at the end of the year, with deliveries expected in 2026.
As The Aviationist recently reported, PAF Tucanos integrated with the U.S. Air Force’s A-10 Thunderbolt IIs for the first time in a Dec. 2024 exercise.
Other defense programs involve modernizing the country’s cyber infrastructure, acquire new air defense systems, and additional unspecified upgrades for the incoming Miguel Malvar-class corvettes. These are currently being built in the South Korean Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard at a cost of $478 million.
