MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) FA- 50 fighter jets which were confirmed to be participating in the anti-drone drills in San Antonio, Zambales were a no-show at the exercise.
Held at the at the Naval Station Leovigildo Gantioqui, San Antonio Zambales, the PAF and the United States Marine Corps (USMC) held a four-day Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) demonstration from April 26-29 showcasing the combined capabilities of the two militaries to detect and intercept hostile aerial threats such as drones, helicopters and low-lying fixed wing aircraft.
In the exercise, the USMC brought in powerful air defense capabilities such as the Marine Air Defense Integrated System, Vampire Laser System and the Avenger Air Defense System all designed to knock down threats in the airspace.
The FA50s participated in the counter-landing live fire drills held on the beaches of Aporawan, Palawan on April 27 but were not seen in the Zambales airspace.
“Due to the safety protocols, live aircraft will not be used since we are dealing with a live missile that shoots in the air,” Maj. Richmond Jan Cayabyab, battery commander of the Philippine Air Force’s Surface-to-air PYthon and DERby (Spyder) air defense system told reporters covering the anti-drone wargames.
Col. Xerxes Trinidad, AFP Public Affairs chief, further clarified that in an air defense or air missile defense scenario, safety protocols must be observed.
“And as you could see, our presentation only [featured] adversarial drones flown over as targets of our weapon system, our missile defense system,” Trinidad said.
He clarified that it was the planners who could best answer why the FA50s were not used in the exercise but stressed that the whole point of the IADM is basically ground to air protection courtesy of the shore-based missile systems.
The PAF currently operates the FA-50 and A-29 Super Tucano turboprop light attack aircraft.
The FA-50s are a supersonic light combat aircraft that serves as its primary fighter providing air defense, interdiction and maritime patrol capabilities.
