전투기 필리핀은 F-16 도입을 원하나 재정적으로 어려운 상황

[위종민]

2021년에 F-16 12대 판매를 승인받긴 했지만 예정 가격이 24억 3천만 달러로 필리핀 연간 국방예산의 절반에 달해 도입계약이 지지부진하고, 대안으로 덴마크제 중고 도입을 추진했지만 아르헨티나로 넘어가 버렸습니다. 

https://defense-studies.blogspot.com/2024/01/philippines-grapples-with-financial.html

Philippines Grapples with Financial Hurdle to Buy U.S. F-16 Fighters

01 Januari 2024

F-16 of the Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) (photo: FlyMag)

TOKYO/MANILA -- Since the U.S. approved the potential sale of 12 F-16 fighter jets to the Philippines in 2021, Manila has been contending with the question of how to finance the costly purchase.

"It's still too expensive, so we have to find a way to be able to finance it in the long term. We want to change our [economic] growth," Jose Manuel Romualdez, Philippine ambassador to the U.S., told Nikkei Asia in an interview this month.

Among the solutions the country is considering include switching to purchases of secondhand aircraft or receiving financial aid from Washington.

When the sale was announced in June 2021, the U.S. estimated the cost of the aircraft and related equipment at $2.43 billion, more than half of the Philippines' annual defense budget. The aircraft are intended to check China's air and maritime operations in the South China Sea.

It is "possible" to cancel the tentative deal to buy new F-16s from the U.S. and to acquire secondhand aircraft from a third country such as Denmark, Romualdez said.

"[F-16s] were supposed to be available from Denmark. I think there are a dozen or more F-16s, hardly used aircraft," the ambassador said. He noted that Manila would need to amend laws to allow using the national budget for secondhand equipment.

But the Danish fighter jets are unlikely to head to the Philippines. In October, the U.S. State Department cleared the transfer of the NATO ally's F-16 aircraft to Argentina, saying in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter: "The transfer reaffirms our close defense tie and steadfast support to Argentina's air force modernization efforts."

The U.S. authorization was required before Denmark transferred the American-made aircraft to a third country.

[Minowski(김유철)]

필리핀 경제력은 딱 FA50 굴리는 수준일 것 같습니다만, 최소한의 하이(?)급도 필요한 상황이니 갑갑한 상황이겠습니다.

[위종민]

남사군도에서 중국과의 충돌이 격화되고 있으니 FA-50보다 크고 멀리 가는 전투기가 필요하긴 한 것 같습니다.

항속거리는 그리펜이 FA-50보다 긴데 스웨덴이 필리핀을 좀 찔러봐도 될 것 같은데요