PAF Admits no Fighter Jets Until 2011
Despite the need to acquire new military aircraft to effectively pursue its war against communist rebels and other internal security threats, Philippine Air Force commanding general Lt. Gen. Jose Reyes Jr. yesterday said the cash-strapped Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has no choice but to make do with the PAF's existing resources, including jet fighters, until 2011 in combating the insurgents.
He admitted the country will have to make do without any air defense until 2011 when internal threats are hopefully addressed.
“As of now, our thrust is to clear our internal security problems. Once we're finished, that's the time we move on to the acquisition of these high-value items,” Reyes told reporters in a chance interview in Camp Aguinaldo.
“Fighter planes are very expensive. If you buy them, all of the resources of the military will be used up and we cannot afford that. At this time, we make do with what we have…the S2-11 trainers,” he said.
But the lack of air defense may further put the lives of the patrolling airmen at risk.
On Tuesday, three members of the Air Force were wounded in an encounter with communist rebels in Tiaong, Quezon.
The Airmen, all from the 730th Combat Group of 710th Special Operations Wing (SPOW), were members of a team sent out to check reports on the presence of insurgents in Cabatang village.
The SPOW team was patrolling along with police personnel when they encountered the undetermined number of heavily armed rebels.
In October, the Air Force decommissioned the last of the 37 F-5 or “Freedom Fighter” jets that it received from the United States.
Since then, the PAF has been making do with its five S2-11 trainer jets despite the aircraft's very limited fighter capability.
The F-5 jets saw action against leftist and Muslim insurgents and rebel soldiers who staged a coup d'etat against former President Corazon Aquino in 1989.
Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Restituto Padilla said at present, they have 16 S2-11 jets in its inventory but only five are operational.
The S2-11 jets are being used to train fighter pilots and perform patrol and reconnaissance missions.
Earlier, Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz revealed they have set 2010 as target to eliminate all armed threats in the country that include guerrillas, Islamic militants and foreign terrorists.
Should the target be met, Reyes said, planning would start on the acquisition of new fighter planes.
He, however, would not say what aircraft models would be purchased.
“By 2011, these types of aircraft, the F-16s and the F-18s will already be obsolete. That's why as of now, we have not done any planning on what types of jets to acquire after this internal security problem,” Reyes stressed.
Though the Air Force is without fighter jets, he said, training for fighter pilots is continuing, even as he conceded that commercial airlines have attracted quite a number of military pilots lately.
Meanwhile, Reyes ordered the spot promotion to the next higher grade of three airmen who were wounded in an encounter in Tiaong, Quezon.
The PAF chief personally awarded the airmen with the Wounded Personnel Medal on Thursday at the Armed Forces Medical Center in recognition of their bravery despite injuries sustained from the communist rebels.
The airmen were identified as A1C Constantino Baral, A1C Rodel Bongar and A2C Mario Garcia who were immediately airlifted to AFP Medical Center in Quezon City for treatment.
An undetermined number of insurgents were also wounded during the skirmish.
and only in recent years you see the malaysian army converting into a conventional force -mbt,subs,frigates,jets, etc 
