The Philippines are planning to acquire a further 12 Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) FA-50s Fighting Eagle light combat and trainer aircraft to add to another 12 already delivered.
President Rodrigo Duterte personally ordered the procurement of the planes after he saw their effectiveness.
The Philippines acquired their current FA-50s in 2014 for approximately USD361Million. Two of the aircrafts were delivered in 2015, two others in 2016 and the rest in 2017.
The aircraft can carry two pilots in tandem seating. The high-mounted canopy developed by Hankuk Fiber is applied with stretched acrylic, providing the pilots with good visibility, and has been tested to offer the canopy with ballistic protection against four-pound objects impacting at 400 knots.
The altitude limit is 14,600 meters (48,000 feet), and airframe is designed to last 8,000 hours of service.
There are seven internal fuel tanks with a capacity of 2,655 liters (701 US gallons), five in the fuselage and two in the wings.
The engine consists of three-staged fans, seven axial stage arrangement, and an afterburner.
Its engine produces a maximum of 78.7 kN (17,700 lbf) of thrust with afterburner.
