Grounding of the FA-50 fighter jets for two weeks now has not affected the capability of the Armed Forces to defend the country’s domain, including that in the disputed West Philippine Sea.
Navy spokesman Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad affirmed this in a press briefing at the Navy headquarters in Manila on Tuesday.
One of the components of the AFP’s maritime domain awareness capability, Trinidad said, is the air component. The FA-50 fighter jets acquired under the military’s modernization program are not “major contributors to this although they form a part of the overall picture.”
“The void in the capabilities left by the grounding of the FA-50 can be handled by other military assets. There are other aircraft, other sensors, that can handle contingencies,” Trinidad added.
“We have our ground-based air defense system, we have our aircraft on aerial reconnaissance and surveillance,” said Major Joseph Richard Calma, deputy chief of the Air Force’s public affairs office
Last March 4, an FA-50 aircraft crashed in Mt. Kalatungan in Bukidnon while on the way to provide firepower to ground troops fighting communist rebels in the province. Two pilots died in the mishap.
Calma said that as the probe continues, the remaining 11 FA-50s remain grounded.
Asked when the order to ground the FA-50s will be lifted, said: “We cannot give a timeline.”
