Philippines ramps up fighter pilot training, eyes faster, more lethal jets

20/7/2024 16:11

        The Philippine Air Force must ramp up pilot training if it is to buy 20 or more multi-role fighter jets as it modernises and expands joint operations with its navy, a commander said on Saturday.
        
        Philippine pilots are taking part for the first time in multinational war games overseas, the Pitch Black war games involving 20 Indo-Pacific and European countries over a vast area of northern Australia.
        
        The exercises are consuming a million litres of aviation fuel a day, as fighter jets from the United States, Britain, Australia, Singapore, Japan and South Korea, among others, test war tactics and skills, organisers said.
        
        The Philippines brought four of its 12 South Korean-built FA-50 fighter jets to the games and is assessing the capabilities of more advanced jets for its modernisation programme, the contingent's commander, Colonel Randy Pascua, told Reuters in Darwin.