Philippines hints at fresh fighter fleet amid negotiations with Sweden

SINGAPORE — The Philippines is nearing a breakthrough in negotiations to buy fighter jets from Sweden after two decades of efforts to refresh its fleet .

The two governments are now ironing out the final terms of defense cooperation based on a memorandum of understanding signed in June and ratified in September, the Philippines’ Defense Department explained in a Feb. 16 news release.

The arrangement is key to Sweden’s participation in the Philippines’ multirole fighter jet program, the department said, and the governments are to ink a deal at a meeting next month.

Negotiations had stalled while the Philippine military finalized its new defense acquisition program, dubbed Horizon 3 — the last phase of the government’s massive push to modernize its armed forces. In January, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved a 2 trillion peso (U.S. $35 billion) budget for the decade-long plan.

The Defense Department has not shared a specific list of assets and platforms it wants under the program, but Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told reporters last month the budget will focus on building assets and capabilities to address threats to Philippine resources and vessels. Capabilities will focus on raising domain awareness; connectivity; maritime and aerial deterrence; command and control; communications; computer technology; and intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance.

The military previously told Defense News most of its assets and platforms are deployed to the country’s western and northern borders.

Following the approval of Horizon 3, the department said it had changed its requirements for the fighter jet and had not disclosed the total number it planned to acquire, nor the price tag.

The Philippines retired its fleet of Northrop F-5 fighters in 2005, and in 2013 it spent 18.9 billion pesos for 12 FA-50 light attack aircraft from Korea Aerospace Industries as fighter jet negotiations continued.

While the government has not identified the final choice for the fighter jet, the Swedish firm Saab’s JAS 39 Gripen was reportedly among the top choice.

A Saab-made JAS 39 Gripen fighter taxis during the NATO exercise Loyal Arrow on June 10, 2009. (Patrick Tragardh/AFP via Getty Images)

The country had its eyes set on Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Fighting Falcon in the 1990s, but economic troubles and a lack of prioritization stalled negotiations.

In 2021, the U.S. approved the sale of 10 F-16C Block 70/72 and two F-16D Block 70/72 aircraft in a $2.43 billion package. However, the Philippines has only earmarked $1.1 billion for the acquisition.

Sweden instead proposed the JAS 39 Gripen in 2022.

Saab has not participated in negotiations thus far, according to Andrew Wilkinson, the company’s Gripen campaign director. Speaking to Defense News during the Singapore Airshow this week, Wilkinson said Saab will join the discussions once the bilateral agreement is signed and after the Philippines reaches a decision on its preferred fighter jet.

“We are at the very first phase, but right now there is no official decision, no requests,” he added.

Previous negotiations were over the aircraft, but Saab officials said there is an array of systems to provide a “holistic defense solution,” like the GlobalEye airborne early warning and control plane that can provide long-range air, sea, and land surveillance in real time.

“We have ground radars, airborne radars, other types of sensors, and you can fuse all this information to provide one aviation awareness picture that you can distribute to the navy, to the army, even to the coast guard,” Anders Dahl, who leads Saab’s branch in the Philippines, told Defense News.

The company has a history in the region. In 2008, Saab signed a $309 million deal to supply aircraft and surveillance systems to the Royal Thai Armed Forces.

Leilani Chavez is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. Her reporting expertise is in East Asian politics, development projects, environmental issues and security.

新加坡——经过二十年的努力以更新其机队，菲律宾在与瑞典购买战斗机的谈判中即将取得突破。

菲律宾国防部在2月16日的新闻稿中解释说，两国政府目前正在根据6月份签署、9月份批准的谅解备忘录，敲定国防合作的最终条款。

该部门表示，这项安排是瑞典参与菲律宾多用途战斗机项目的关键，两国政府将于下个月的会议上签署协议。

由于菲律宾军方正在敲定名为“地平线3”的新国防采购计划——这是政府大规模推进军队现代化建设的最后阶段——谈判一度陷入僵局。今年1月，总统费迪南德·马科斯批准了这项为期十年的计划，预算为2万亿比索（约合350亿美元）。

国防部尚未公布该计划下所需资产和平台的具体清单，但国防部长吉尔伯托·特奥多罗上个月告诉记者，预算将重点用于建设应对菲律宾资源和舰船所面临威胁的资产和能力。这些能力将侧重于提升态势感知能力；增强互联互通；加强海上和空中威慑；改善指挥控制；发展通信；运用计算机技术；以及进行情报、监视、目标获取和侦察。

军方此前告诉《防务新闻》，其大部分资产和平台都部署在该国的西部和北部边境。

在“地平线3”计划获得批准后，该部门表示已更改了对战斗机的要求，但尚未透露计划采购的总数量以及价格。

菲律宾于 2005 年退役了其诺斯罗普 F-5 战斗机机队，并在 2013 年花费 189 亿比索从韩国航空航天工业公司购买了 12 架 FA-50 轻型攻击机，当时战斗机谈判仍在继续。

虽然政府尚未确定最终选择的战斗机型号，但据报道，瑞典萨博公司的JAS 39“鹰狮”战斗机是首选之一。

2009年6月10日，一架萨博公司制造的JAS 39“鹰狮”战斗机在北约“忠诚之箭”演习期间滑行。（Patrick Tragardh/AFP via Getty Images）

上世纪 90 年代，该国曾将目光投向洛克希德·马丁公司的 F-16 战隼战斗机，但经济困难和缺乏优先考虑导致谈判陷入停滞。

2021年，美国批准向菲律宾出售10架F-16C Block 70/72和2架F-16D Block 70/72战斗机，总价值24.3亿美元。然而，菲律宾仅为此次采购预留了11亿美元。

瑞典则在 2022 年提出了 JAS 39 鹰狮战斗机方案。

萨博公司“鹰狮”战斗机项目负责人安德鲁·威尔金森表示，萨博迄今为止尚未参与谈判。本周在新加坡航展期间，威尔金森在接受《防务新闻》采访时表示，一旦双边协议签署，并且菲律宾就其首选战斗机做出决定，萨博才会加入讨论。

“我们目前还处于第一阶段，但目前还没有正式决定，也没有任何请求，”他补充道。

之前的谈判是关于飞机的，但萨博公司官员表示，他们拥有一系列系统来提供“整体防御解决方案”，例如全球之眼空中预警和控制飞机，它可以实时提供远程空中、海上和陆地监视。

“我们有地面雷达、机载雷达、其他类型的传感器，你可以将所有这些信息融合起来，提供一个航空态势感知图，然后将其分发给海军、陆军，甚至海岸警卫队，”萨博菲律宾分公司负责人安德斯·达尔告诉《防务新闻》。

该公司在该地区有着悠久的历史。2008年，萨博公司签署了一份价值3.09亿美元的合同，向泰国皇家武装部队供应飞机和监视系统。

莱拉尼·查韦斯是《防务新闻》的亚洲记者。她的报道专长是东亚政治、发展项目、环境问题和安全。