MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Air Force (PAF) will acquire two more fighter jets from South Korea this month, bringing its total number of fighter jets to eight.
The fourth batch of FA-50 aircraft will arrive in the country on March 29, PAF spokesman Col. Antonio Francisco said yesterday.
PAF chief Lt. Gen. Edgar Fallorina will welcome the fighter jets that will land at the Haribon Hangar, Air Force City at Clark Air Base in Pampanga.
“It will be delivered in batches, so this is the fourth batch of planes to arrive, with tail numbers 007 and 008,” Fallorina said.
The Philippines has bought 12 fighter jets from South Korea, with the remaining batch scheduled to arrive by September this year.
“We expect the delivery of the jets to be completed within the year,” Francisco told reporters on the sidelines of a media shootfest at the Villamor Air Base shooting range yesterday.
The arrival of the two aircraft and four more within the year all worth P18.8 billion is expected to further boost the fighting and defense capabilities of the PAF.