Busan South Korea – President Aquino together with Korea Aerospace Industries president Sung Yong-ha and several Korean Air Force officials inspected one of the FA-50 fighter jets at the Gimhae Airbase in Busan, South Korea.
Video footage courtesy of: RTV Malacanang
President Benigno Aquino III was in Busan for the commemorative summit between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Republic of Korea on its 25th anniversary and likewise inspect the development of newly procured FA-50 fighter jets for the Philippines. This entire squadron has a price tag of P18.9 billion pesos.
In his arrival speech in Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2, President Aquino said that “Next year, the first two units of these moderns jets will land in the country for the Armed Forces. The last time we had fighters in the inventory was in 2005 so by next year an entire decade has already passed, adding that the delivery of the 10 remaining units will be completed in 2017″.
The purchase of the jets is part of a five-year, P75-billion ($1.68 billion) modernization program, but Philippine officials have insisted that the acquisition had nothing to do with Manila’s maritime dispute with Beijing.
