PREFLIGHT PREPS. US F-16 fighter jets, with a military chopper in the foreground, await orders to take off at Clark Air Base in Pampanga on May 9, 2023 in connection with the revived “Cope Thunder” exercises between US and Philippine air forces. Being held this month and again in July, the drills will involve around 160 American and 400 Filipino servicemen. | NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — The F-16 fighter jets that Manila plans to buy from Washington may be “available for delivery” in 2026 or 2027, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez said Sunday.
His remark came after the United States announced that it has approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets to the Philippines for $5.5 billion amid the rising tensions between the Philippines and China.
“Our friends here in America have studied that FA-16 is really right for our Air Force, for how long will it be able to stay in the air and be able to protect our shores,” Romualdez said in Filipino at an interview over dzBB.
READ: Marcos approves purchase of more fighter jets
“This is all new. This block has been offered to us for a long time, this will be available for delivery sometime next year or 2027 and the succeeding ones,” he added.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has welcomed the possible sale.
“Anything that will modernize and propel us to greater heights with our assets, we gratefully welcome that for the Armed Forces,” AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said last week.
Earlier, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the F-16 sale would help the Philippine Air Force boost its “ability to conduct maritime domain awareness” and “enhance its suppression of enemy air defenses.”