Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE
FRANCE HAS offered to sell an undisclosed number of surplus Dassault Mirage F.1 fighters to the Philippine air force as replacements for its badly depleted fleet of Northrop F-5A/Bs.
The ex-French air force aircraft form part of a larger package of defence-equipment sales being proposed to the Philippines. Other French systems are understood to include air-defence surveillance radar, army command-and-control equipment and naval hardware.
The proposal is the latest in a series of second-hand aircraft offers made to the Philippines. The country urgently requires new fighters to replace its seven 30-year-old F-5A/Bs, of which only two are airworthy at any one time.
In early 1993, the Philippines expressed interest in 20 ex-Belgian air force Mirage 5BA/D fighters. The aircraft, upgraded under the Mirage System Improvement Programme, were subsequently sold to Chile.
Israel Aircraft Industries' (IAI) long-standing hope of selling 18 surplus Israeli air force Kfir C-7s was boosted in October 1994, with the visit to Manila of Israeli deputy defence minister Mordechai Gur. IAI faces competition from Denel of South Africa, with a similar offer of updated Atlas Cheetahs.
Other recent proposals include more F-5A/Bs from South Korea, while the Philippine air force is thought to be more interested in acquiring early-build Lockheed F-16A/Bs from the USA.
Any new air force purchase is contingent on the Philippine Congress approving a ten-year supplementary military-modernisation budget of 300 billion pesos ($12.2 billion). It has passed through the Lower House, but still awaits Senate approval.
Defence sources, however, are unsure whether the budget will receive final approval before the next congressional elections, due in May. "The air force can't enter into any new contract for aircraft until they get some more money," says one Western military official.
Source: Flight International
