KAI T/A-50 Golden Eagle (photo : Militaryphotos)
MANILA, Philippines
Twelve surface attack aircraft lead-in fighters or TA-50s
from South Korea
Each jet costs P1.25 billion for a total of P25 billion for
the dozen jets.
The TA-50 is a supersonic aircraft that requires more
experienced pilots.
Authorities said bulk of the P70 billion allocated for the
modernization of the Armed Forces under the Aquino administration will go to
the Air Force.
“Dati hindi natin pinapansin ang territorial defense dahil
wala nga tayong capability gaya
The Air Force currently has two trainer jets, which are now
nearly 25 years old.
The S-211s were originally meant for training purposes but
the military was forced to use them in actual operations.
The PAF admits that this is the current image of the air
power of the Philippines
The country's lone fighter jet, an F-5, was sidelined in
2005 and has yet to be replaced.
“At that time, the leadership decided that we didn’t need
this because there's no threat in that area kaya nag-concentrate tayo sa mga
ginagamit nating aircraft para sa internal security operations,” said Col.
Miguel Ernesto Okol, spokesman of the PAF.
But the current tensions at the Scarborough Shoal have
placed a spotlight on the country's air inferiority.
Last week, a suspected Chinese fighter jet flew over the
disputed shoal.
Gazmin says President Aquino is serious in beefing up the
military so as not to be ignored by foreign powers
Great news. So here are some stats from Wikipedia. :D
BalasHapusAircraft Summary
TA-50 Golden Eagle (Tactical trainer/light attack)
South Korean Derivative of F-16 Fighting Falcon
First Flight: 20 August 2002
Introduction: 22 February 2005
TA-50 Unit Cost: US$25 million (1.0535 Billion PHP)
Powerplant: 1× General Electric F404 afterburning turbofan
Maximum speed: Mach 1.4~1.5
Service ceiling: 16,760 m (55,000 ft)
Guns: 1× 20 mm (0.787 in) General Dynamics A-50 3-barreled rotary cannon
Hardpoints: Total: 7
Rockets: Hydra 70, LOGIR
Missiles:
- Air-to-air: AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-120 AMRAAM.
- Air-to-ground: AGM-65 Maverick
Bombs: Mk 82, Mk 83, and Mk 84 general purpose bombs with SPICE, JDAM, or JDAM-ER guidance kits; CBU-97/105 sensor fuzed weapons, laser-guided bombs
Manufacturer: Korea Aerospace Industries (Founded by Samsung Aerospace, Daewoo Heavy Industries (aerospace division), and Hyundai Space and Aircraft Company)
Although it would have been wiser to buy the FA-50 variant for 5 Million USD more instead , this is good enough. But the story doesn't end here. The following are the list of Aircraft Armaments and their corresponding per Unit cost:
AIM-9 Sidewinder (Short-range air-to-air missile): US$85,000 (3.582 Million PHP)
AIM-120 AMRAAM 120C (beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, fire & forget): $300,000–$400,000 (12.6422 Million to 16.8563 Million PHP)
AIM-120 AMRAAM 120D (beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, fire & forget): $700,000 (29.4985 Million PHP)
AGM-65 Maverick (precision-guided weapon): 17,000 to $160,000 (716 392.75 PHP to 6.7425 Million PHP)
Mk 82 (unguided, low-drag general-purpose bomb): $268.50 (11,314.79 PHP)
Mk 83 (low-drag general-purpose bomb): no data yet :D
Mark 84 or BLU-117 (General-purpose_bomb): $3,100 (130,636 PHP)
Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) KIT (guidance kit that converts unguided bombs, or "dumb bombs" into all-weather "smart" munitions): Approximately $25,000 (1.0535 Million PHP); depends on acquisition lot. Foreign sales have considerably higher prices.
This means it will take a few million or billion more to ARM and Maintain the fleet for years to come. If we are going to go up against China we will need Beyond Visual Range Weapons to effectively protect our land area and the plane itself. I would suggest 4 Units of AIM-120C for each of the planes. 2 to bring for every operation and 2 for stockpiling. So in order to have appropriate defense measure alone it will cost 606.8 Million PHP. But those are very conservative numbers, so we may need to order more Air-to-Air missiles. :)
God bless Philippines! Im waiting see this in action to solve the Mindanao Crisis any time soon. Also all these weapons are manufactured and sold by the US so we're gonna pay US huge sums to keep our planes formidable. :D
Also, I would like to request President Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino, III to host a Flight Demonstration when all the 12 jets are finally delivered, perhaps for every major Tax Paying City here in the Philippines.
Lastly, it stated in Wikipedia that each plane in 2011 prices cost 25 Million USD (1.0535 Billion PHP). I am open to any explanation on how the cost for 12 Planes got to 25 Billion PHP effectively doubling 2011 prices. I hope this one doesn't get to become the likes of ZTE.