Key points
- Sale to improve security of strategic partner: State Department
- Spare engines are also part of the proposed sale
- Not received any official notice: Philippine Defence Department
ISLAMABAD: The State Department told Congress it has approved a possible $5.6 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to the Philippines.
The move would send US warplanes to a key ally in Southeast Asia that has clashed with China, according to the Philippines.
The proposed sale is for 20 F-16s, made by Lockheed Martin Corp, and other equipment, including missiles, radars and spare engines, according to a statement from the State Department.
The sale would “improve the security of a strategic partner that continues to be an important force for political stability, peace and economic progress in Southeast Asia,” a State Department statement said.
It would also boost “the Philippine Air Force’s ability to conduct maritime domain awareness” and “enhance its suppression of enemy air defenses,” the statement said.
Escalating confrontations
The news follows months of escalating confrontations between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety.
A State Department spokesperson said the deal would be final only after “a signed Letter of Offer and Acceptance” was received from the “purchasing partner”.
Philippine defence department spokesman Arsenio Andolong told AFP he had “not received any official notice of such a decision.”
But the Philippines has publicly expressed interest in acquiring F-16s since at least the administration of former president Benigno Aquino which ended in 2016.
Manila and Washington have deepened their defence cooperation since President Ferdinand Marcos took office in 2022 and began pushing back on Beijing’s sweeping South China Sea claims.
China’s ire
In December, the Philippines angered China when it said it planned to acquire the US mid-range Typhon missile system in a push to secure its maritime interests.
Beijing warned such a purchase could spark a regional “arms race”.
President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to redirect US military efforts to Asia to face a rising China, especially as tensions rise over Taiwan, and to lessen involvement in Europe despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
On Tuesday, as Chinese ships and warplanes surrounded Taiwan in a simulated blockade, Philippines military chief General Romeo Brawner said his country would “inevitably” be involved should the self-ruled island be invaded.
“Start planning for actions in case there is an invasion of Taiwan,” he told troops in northern Luzon island, without naming the potential invader.
“Because if something happens to Taiwan, inevitably we will be involved.”
“Shoulder to shoulder”
He also said that the bulk of this month’s joint US-Philippine “Balikatan”, or “shoulder to shoulder,” military exercises would be conducted in northern Luzon, the part of the Philippines nearest Taiwan.
“These are the areas where we perceive the possibility of an attack. I do not want to sound alarmist, but we have to prepare,” he added.
On a visit to Manila last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed to “reestablish deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region” in light of “threats from the Communist Chinese.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also reiterated US defense commitments to the Philippines, a contrast to the Trump administration’s frequent talk of “freeloading” off the United States by allies in Europe, according to AFP.