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I nearly fell off my Chair after seeing the State of the secondhand F-16AM/BM Fighting Falcon Aircraft that Argentina bought from Denmark recently. I wasn't really following closely that bit of News because frankly, I thought they would be nothing but just pieces of Junk as they were sold to Argentina for such a low Price of only Usd 12.5 million per Aircraft, or only Usd 300 million for 24 Aircraft.
However, when they were finally presented to the Public at a recent Presentation, not only did they look good, but were armed and equipped with pretty good Weapons and Equipment. First off, they were armed with AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missiles (AMRAAM) on the Wingtips, which is the primary or at least most used Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Missile in the West.
Next was that they had Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) Bombs under their Wings, these are one of the standard Guided Bombs in the West. And then they also had GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDB), these are smaller and lighter Guided Bombs that allow Aircraft to carry more Guided Weapons.
They even had what looked to me like Litening Targeting Pods. As per the Argentinian Press, AMRAAM and AIM-9 Sidewinder Missiles were included in the Deal, but that the other Weapons were going to be bought separately from the United States (US).
From the Looks of it, the Aircraft, Pods, Missiles, Pylons for the SDBs, etc. I think should've cost at least two to three times than what the Argentinians paid for them, which makes me think that the West likely heavily subsidized this Sale to Argentina.
Now I know that our Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) idolizes and loves the US very much, but I think that they should demand to get at least the same deal as Argentina got from the West. I know that these F-16s are from Denmark, but since they are US designed and made Aircraft, then the US has a lot of say in Terms of Who, Where and When they are sold to.
Note that the US only has two Military Bases in Argentina while it has at least nine in the Philippines of which they are not paying a single cent of Rent for. The US also doesn't have a Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with Argentina, but it has with the Philippines since 1951. So if anything, the Philippines should be getting a much BETTER Deal than what Argentina got.
Now if the West does give the same Deal to the Philippines for F-16s, the next Question would then by how many Aircraft should the Philippines get? Because the Budget for the Multi-Role Fighter (MRF) Program that the AFP allocated as far as I recall is around Usd 1.15 billion, which would be enough to buy at least 72 such Aircraft.
The Danes though only has around 17 of these F-16AM/BM left available in their Inventory, if they haven't already allocated them yet elsewhere, so the West might have to look to other Countries for F-16s if they are going to provide them to the Philippines.
But one big, limiting Issue I see though is Operating Cost as getting that many Aircraft means a very high Operating Cost also. As I mentioned many times before in my previous Videos, the Cost Per Flight Hour (CPFH) of an F-16 Aircraft was estimated by Jane's to be around Usd 7,000 per Hour, or around Php 403,095 assuming an Exchange Rate of Php 57.59 for every Dollar.
That's already Php 9.67 million PER HOUR for 24 Aircraft. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) requires at least 200 Flight Hours per Year for every Pilot, so for one Year, the total Cost for 24 Aircraft or Pilots would be around Php 1.9 billion already. And if we get 72 Aircraft, then the cost would be Php 5.7 billion just for one Year alone.
But then again, Deals like these don't come every Day, we may likely not see another Deal like this in at least several Decades. So if the AFP doesn't maximize this, then it won't see another one like it for a long while.
For me though, I think 24 Aircraft will be enough for now, even if this is a once in a Lifetime Opportunity. Getting more means we will be taking away too much Money already from Infrastructure Projects, which I think is too much. The Philippines' focus should always be, first and foremost, Progress and Development and not War Preparations.
But up to the AFP how many they want to get. Bottomline is that the Philippines SHOULD demand and get a Deal like this also because if not, then this will just be another Example of how the West is exploiting the Philippines' obsession with them.
SOURCES:
* Fuerza Aérea Argentina Facebook Page Post, 04/16/24 - 1944H {Archived Link}
* Ministerio de Defensa Facebook Page Post, 04/16/24 - 2214H {Archived Link}
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| AFP should demand from the West to get the same Deal as Argentina's F-16 Aircraft |
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