Defense chief: 'All air, no force' no more for PAF

The mocking phrase "all air, no force" used to describe the Philippine Air Force will soon be a thing of the past once the PAF acquires new aircraft units to improve its operation capability, the Defense department chief said Saturday. Department of National Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin on Friday said the DND is working on the approval of 138 contracts for the capability upgrade and modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), including the ones for PAF's aircraft. “The availability of more aircraft units shall, once and for all, erase the ironic and naughty commentary that our present air force is 'all air devoid of force',” Gazmin said during the Air Power Symposium in SMX Convention Center. “The placement of these assets in our air force inventory shall surely boost PAF's air operations capability,” he added. Gazmin also said the modernization program for the PAF, which will be implemented for the next five years, is in full swing. This includes acquisition of surface attack aircraft/lead-in fighter trainers, attack helicopters, light transport aircraft, and medium transport aircraft on top of the four multi-purpose combat utility helicopters that will be the delivered within the year. Stunted Gazmin admits the modernization of the country's military strength had been hindered by economic constraints. “The dictates of economic reality has been hampering our plan of providing our sovereign state with the instruments of credible defense, protection, and security,” he said. He said the PAF was established to secure the sovereignty and protect the integrity of our national territory. “This is especially true in our firm resolve in securing our maritime resources, protecting our exclusive economic zone, and implementing our maritime laws,” he said. In his presentation entitled “Protecting National Interests Through a Responsive Air Power Strategy,” Colonel Raul Del Rosario, Commander of the Air Defense Wing, said the Philippines had a total of 1,028 aircraft units since its first acquisition in 1947. These include 203 transport, 372 trainers, 251 fighters, and 202 helicopters. “The PAF had an air-power record that we can be proud of,” Rosario said. However, Del Rosario admitted the PAF is way past its golden age, which was from the 1950s to early 1970s. “We then had an established air defense system. There were air defense alert centers in BASA Air Base in Pampanga and Palawan. We had day and night interceptors with the F-86 Dogs. We had precision aerobatic teams,” he said. Moreover, the former team leader of the Blue Diamond (the national aerobatic team) said, PAF then was number one in Asia in terms of air power. “We were interoperable with the US and Australia. We participated and won air to ground gunnery competition against US, and to top it all we were capable enough to send an expeditionary squadron of F-86 in Congo Africa,” he recounted. “That just proves a point that given the equipment, we got what it takes to be a top-caliber air force,” he added. But Del Rosario said this has changed in the last forty years. “From being number one in Asia in the '70s, we are now surpassed by Bangladesh even at a GDP much lower than the Philippines,” he said. Culture of Dependence Del Rosario attributed this decline to the shift to internal security operations, and the growing dependence of the Philippines to military aid. In his presentation, he said that majority of our aircraft units were from the US after the Truman Doctrine institutionalized US Foreign Military Aid in 1947.  “The P-51 Mustang, F-86, F-5, F-8, UH1H, T-28 were payments for the use of the US Bases in the Philippines,” he said, adding that “most of these aircraft were hand-me-downs.” The lack option as to what aircraft will be given by the US, coupled with the sudden withdrawal of military aid after a Philippine Senate decision not to extend the RP-US bases agreement, left the PAF with minimal support. “(When) the Americans left, so did the support for our air force. There were no major equipment grants. The influx of aircraft and radar spares dwindled. We lost our air defense capability,” he added. “But one thing is for sure, the military aid program helped breed the culture of dependence that stunted the growth of our air force,” he said. — LBG, GMA News