RP's LONE F5 SUPERSONIC JET DECOMMISIONED

[chua_riwap]

FLORIDABLANCA-- (UPDATE) The Philippine Air Force on Saturday decommissioned its 40-year-old F5 jets that formed the core of the country's air defense and also saw action against communist and Muslim rebels and military mutineers.

A lone F-5 jet, piloted by Brigadier General Manuel Natividad, the commander of the air defense wing, taxied into its hangar in Basa airbase north of Manila to symbolize the end of the service.

The air force said the last 10 remaining fighter-bombers were too old and too expensive to maintain in view of the shift in military resources to tackling internal defense rather than external threats.

The first 23 brand new jets were acquired in 1965 from the United States under a bilateral military assistance pact, making the Philippines the first Southeast Asian country to have supersonic fighters.

Since then the jets have been used extensively to patrol areas claimed by the Philippines in the disputed Spratly Islands chain and the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

The jets were used to back soldiers fighting communist insurgents in the central and northern Philippines and Muslim separatist rebels and the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in the south. They blasted military rebel positions at an airbase south of Manila during a coup attempt in 1989.

The whole F5 fleet has been grounded since May 2001 following a crash of one of the jets during a joint military exercise with the U.S. military.

The subsonic Augusta AS-211 jet trainer and light attack aircraft will temporarily perform external defense duties, the air force said.

Captain Ephraim G. Suyom, spokesman for the Air Defense Wing at Basa Air Base in northern Pampanga province said five of the remaining 10 F5s were still "serviceable" but all of them could be used "in case of war."

"In extreme emergency, you do what you have to do," he said.

The acquisition of the F-5 jets in 1965 made the Philippines the first country in the region to operate supersonic fighters but due to a lack of money, the country now has one of the most primitive armed forces in the region.

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Langya! Iyan na nga lang nag-iisang jet fighter natin, na-decommissioned pa? Ano na natira, yung mga TORA_TORA?

May FORCE pa ba Air Force natin?

.

[BlueBimmer]

puro Air nalang hehe. Gliders nalang like those in the movies and the game Far Cry, commando gliders LOL

[Bry]

I guess it doesn't matter that much, since ang kalaban lang naman is usually the rebels in the Mindanao area. If ever naman may makalaban ang Pilipinas na malakas talaga, wala naman tayo magagawa but to ask help from our allies.

[Psalm136:2]

Currently, there are no external threats to the Phil. so I guess, that's the reason why they decided to decommision the last F5. I think this is also one measure to force the govt. to allocate more funds sa Air----- (wala na kasing force e, hehhehe)

But this is embarassing to the country's international image.

[Bry]

Bakit naman embarassing? One supersonic jet isn't too flattering either.

[EL Chicane]

I agree. Hindi fighter jet ang kailangan natin. Kundi APACHE attack helicopter para pwedeng paulanan ng Hellfire missiles yung buong Sierra Madre para maubos na yung mga NPA na kasama ni Ka Roger dun.

[EL Chicane]

On the other hand, supersonic ba talaga yang F-5 ? :question:

Para kasing maghihiwalay yung mga piyesa niya sa hitsura pa lang.

[Psalm136:2]

Kasi parang it's adding insult to injury. Kawawa na nga defences ng Pinas, pati yung nag-iisang F5, mawawala pa. Pero I agree, what we need are Apaches and Comanches at iba pang '...ches'. Dapat palitan na rin yung mga UH1H; WW2 and Vietnam vintage pa mga yun.

[oldblue]

A lone F-5 jet, piloted by Brigadier General Manuel Natividad, the commander of the air defense wing, taxied into its hangar in Basa airbase north of Manila to symbolize the end of the service.

at least dito sa P'nas, may Heneral pa din nag-field work hahaha

[oldblue]

"In extreme emergency, you do what you have to do," he said.

i dont get this. why issue this statement? pag nag-gyera, every man for himself na??

[Psalm136:2]

i dont get this. why issue this statement? pag nag-gyera, every man for himself na??

Siguro ibig nyang sabihin sumigaw ng, 'sakloloooooo!!'
O di kaya, 'darnaaaa'!!

Seriously, I guess he meant hingi tayo tulong sa mga kano.

[bilog]

siguro naman may jet planes from US na ibibigay sa atin for reconditioning...

Pero we are probably 30 years behind fighter jets and personally it would not matter since Phillipines is not under threat to any of its neighbors.

[RedHorse]

wala pa yata helicopter na huey ng WW2.

correct si ARB!

sa vietnam war sya unang ginamit

[CoDer]

OT: I remember this senator who commented on the crashing of a chinnok on it way to cebu. Sirain naman day pala ang hardware ng kano... yabang! kaya tama nga mga bosing ala ng Force ang Air ng Philippines.

The Air of the Philippines...

[mazdamazda]

a cool pix...

the first & last Pinoy pilot of the F5 side by side.

[Psalm136:2]

Oo nga pala, June 30, 1959 unang delivery sa US military hanggang March 1961.
Dumating ang unang batch ng Huey sa Vietnam nung 1963. Pinalitan na ngayon ito ng Black Hawk.

[StraightSix]

Iyan na nga lang nag-iisang jet fighter natin, na-decommissioned pa?

The reporter gave a misleading title ... When the lone F-5 jet taxied into its hangar, it was to symbolize the end of service of the country's 10 remaining F-5 Freedom Fighter jets.

The statements "... out of the remaining 10 F-5's, five of them are serviceable but all 10 can be used in case of war," and "you do what you have to do." - means that in case of war, 5 jets can be flown in combat while the other 5 will be stripped for spare parts.

Given its meager resources and a loss of only 13 jets in 40 years, I'd say that the men and women of the Air Force had done a fantastic job with the F-5.

[mbt]

yeah, it doesnt matter at all, those F5 jets may as well as be paper airplanes in 2005. hehe.

[number001]

Its quite embarrassing that the Philippines accepted some old Bronco? planes donated from Thailand. Who knows they could be in the same shape as the F-5 that are being retired.

They should keep some of the better F-5s, restore them properly and display it in a museum (and I dont mean this sarcastically).

Old hand-me-down hardwares wont do much good since it costs more to maintain and repair. For example, the US is slowly decomissioning its fleets of F-14 Tomcats as some are developing problems related to its structural rigidity.

American hardware are not so reliable either, even if it were still new or more recent. Americans have crashed countless of black hawks and some chinooks at Iraq and Afghanistan alone.

OT:
The Philippines used to be second (in economic terms) only to Japan in Asia, right after the Second World War. And now it is barely surviving competing against rising third world countries like Myanmar, Burma, Bangladesh.

[BoyFerrari]

OT:
The Philippines used to be second (in economic terms) only to Japan in Asia, right after the Second World War. And now it is barely surviving competing against rising third world countries like Myanmar, Burma, Bangladesh.

Because of too much politics in the Philippines. Ilang bills yung pending sa Congress? Almost a thousand. Politicians are more concerned on planning to destroy their political opponents. Tulad ni Drilon at Pimentel, malamang inuubos nila ang oras nila kung pano pabagsakin ang gubyerno. Mga cabinet officials naman, they spend many resources attending congress hearings "in aid of legislation" about exposes and other political bombshells.