Philippines Doubling Fleet of South Korean FA-50 Fighters

<p >The Philippines Air Force will double the size of its fighter fleet with the procurement of 12 FA-50 lightweight fighters under a $683 million contract, following the placing of a $420 million order in 2014 for the first 12 of the aircraft. The decision to acquire the fighters was revealed by the Philippines Department of National Defence in a Procurement Monitoring Report. New FA-50 fighters will integrate more powerful AESA radars and superior avionics, and may be able to integrate beyond visual range air-to-air missiles ensuring a far greater combat potential. The Philippine Air Force previously deployed F-5 lightweight fighters during the Cold War, with the FA-50 having been developed primarily as a successor to the F-5 for the Republic of Korea Air Force with similarly low maintenance needs and operational costs. The FA-50 is a derivative of the T-50 trainer, and is in the same weight range as the Chinese JL-9 trainer and JF-17 lightweight fighter, although it has a more limited flight performance and remains significantly slower than either one. </p><p ><img src=" title="FA-50 (front) and F-16 Fighters"></p><p >With East Asia seeing the most capable fighters in the world deployed by China and by the U.S. and its allies, and Washington prioritising the region for deployment of its new F-35s, the value of the FA-50 is expected to remain limited for inter-state conflicts due to the tremendous degree by which it is outmatched. China’s <a href=" target="_blank">J-20 fifth generation fighter</a> is over three times as large, carries a radar several times, larger, and missiles with several times the engagement range, which paired with cutting edge stealth capabilities and avionics leave the FA-50 overwhelmingly outmatched. The FA-50 is nevertheless a potentially valuable asset for counterinsurgency operations within the Philippines, with the fighter class having gained considerable praise from Philippine officials for its combat performances and advanced precision bombing capabilities when providing air support against Islamist militants in the mid-2010s. Then President Rodrigo Duterte stressed that the aircraft were far <a href=" >better suited</a> for such roles than the American F-16s being pitched to the country at the time. </p>