Did China ask Duterte not to buy the F-16 Vipers?

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Did President Rodrigo R. Duterte procrastinate in giving the go signal in the procurement of the most lethal technological advanced combat jets’ U.S made F-16 Viper because the Chinese asked him not to buy them?

In case the Philippines purchase the latest version of the fourth generation F-16V Block 70’s opus of Maryland based Lockheed Martin, the Philippines Air Force will be possessing, according to Wikipidea, the most modern aircraft in terms of avionics, radar, electronic warfare equipment, automated round collision avoidance system (AGCAS), cockpit and weapon systems.

Before we go to the boring details of the “Messenger of Death from the Sky”, here are the readers’ friendly features of the plane and the “politics” that surround it.

The F-16V (Viper) is the latest evolution of the F-16

                                                                             

The F-16V is equipped with an upgraded programmable displays generator, a Link-16 theatre data link where for example it can connect with the enemies’ location thrown to her by either of the two South Korean made frigates we bought and shoots SIMULTANEOUSLY through its advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar with its  AGM 119 those absconding Chinese warships in the Scarborough and those enemies at the artificial islets, their submarines, and their cruising missiles with other  missiles it carries for those specification.

The plane’s carry the AGM-119/AGM-84/AGM-65G anti-ship missiles.

An example of AGM-119 is the Penguin anti-ship missile designated by the U.S. military. It is a Norwegian passive IR seeker -based short-to-medium range anti-ship guided missile.

The Penguin, according to Wikipidea, can be fired singly or in coordinated-arrival salvoes. Once launched the F-16 Viper is free to turn-away as the missile is inertially guided until the autonomous terminal homing phase.

The bad ass Viper is effing deadly thanks to the modern technological marvel.

The AESA radar aboard the aircraft enables all-weather targeting, and offers high-resolution detection and imaging of land-based targets. The phased array radar allows the simultaneous application of air-to-air and air-to-surface modes.

The Northrop Grumman’s APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) AESA potency to the unsophisticated means spikes the Viper’s capabilities versus increasingly sophisticated threats that include new enemy cruise missiles as well as evermore-capable adversary fighters such as the Chinese's Sukhoi Su-35S Flanker E.

Compared to the F-16’s existing APG-68 mechanically scanned radar, the APG-83—which leverages technology from the fifth generation stealth jet’s F-35  ’s APG-81—can detect, track and identify greater numbers of targets much faster and at much longer ranges.

The Taiwanese government had just applied 143 of its F-16 A/Bs for a U.S $4.21 upgrade to the F-16 V Block 70 as the growing threat with Mainland China’s air force as seen on the latter aerial incursions at its air space.

In “F-16V to beef up Taiwan’s air defense against China’s J-20”, Asia Times wrote that in case aerial combat ensued at the Taiwanese air space like the Bashi Channel versus the twin - engine multi role Mach 2.0 Chengdu Aerospace Corporation’s J-22 of the Mainlanders, the Vipers with their new radars like the AESA fire control system can detect the Chinese stealth fighter, according to former Taiwanese defense minister Feng Shih-kuan.

The new AESA of the F-16V has twice of its awareness with those Taiwan’s old F-16A/Bs. 

Other advanced weapons the F-16V is rated to carry and are likely to be included in future US arms sales are the AGM-154C joint standoff weapon – or glide bomb – and the AGM-88B high-speed anti-radiation missile.

The aircraft features airborne mission role-change capability, and can detect and track time-critical hard-to-find targets in all weather conditions. It also reduces operational costs for the users.

The F-16V fighter jet can be deployed in suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) missions, air-to-ground and air-to-air combat, and deep interdiction and maritime interdiction missions.

The Chinese had not only deployed warships like the Jianghu Upgrade frigate but had built airbases on its artificial islands in the Fiery Cross, Mischief Reefs, and Subi. The last island is near Palawan province of the Philippines where Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMT) published photos last April 28 of a military aircraft, a Shaanxi Y-8 parked there.

 Combat jets like J-10s (Mach 1.8 multi-role single engine aircraft) or J-11s ( Mach 2.35 twin-engine jet fighter based on the Soviet Sukhoi Su-27 air superiority fighter) will be commissioned there in the Spratlys as some of them had landed at the Woody Island in the Paracels.

14 jets for the full packaged of the F-16 V that include armaments, radar, and others cost U.S $1.3 billion or almost $100 million apiece (or a staggering almost Philippine P5.3 billion each or P74.2 billion a squadron) as based on the sale this year of 14 Vipers to Slovakia by Lockheed Martin, of course, upon the approval of the U.S government.

With our Mutual Defense Treaty with Uncle Sam, our country could save more through the Foreign Military Sales and military financial assistance than the Slovaks because we are seeing a growing menace with the saber rattling Chinese who blatantly violated our maritime territories.

Or we can buy those lethal Saab JAS 39 Gripen made by Sweden where a squadron of 12 jets at U.S $96 million (Ph P5 billion) each had been bought by Thailand.

The problem, can the Gripin matches those deadly features of the more expensive F-16 V had?

But the “Doves” in our government would say indeed it is expensive where the monies should be spent wisely on those billions of pesos of dikes, waterways as many parts of Luzon are submerged with floods and those scarce public school buildings.

Let’s hear however the Latin adage of the “Hawks”:

Si vis pacem, para bellum (If you want peace, prepare for war) popularized by Latin author Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus.

Besides, multi-role jets were already embodied on Republic Act 10349 (Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Modernization Act (RAFPMA) particularly the Horizon 2 (Click here to read my article on this topic).

Here are the features of the Viper:

                                                              Computer

It has an Identification friend or foe (IFF) and HF/UHF/VHF radio communications.

The single, high-performance, modular mission computer (MMC) on the F-16V is a replacement of the three original computers. It provides higher computing power to the avionics and weapon systems, while offering improved situational awareness, air-to-air strike performances, accurate targeting and information capabilities. The gigabit ethernet-based architecture enables the control of electronic warfare displays and avionics systems of the aircraft.

Cockpit

The advanced glass cockpit of the F-16V incorporates upgraded mission computer, and state-of-the-art avionics, including colour multi-function displays, a large high-resolution centre pedestal display (CPD), helmet-mounted cueing system, and a high-volume, high-speed data bus.

The CPD enhances situational awareness of the crew by supporting real-time processing and imaging of flight safety data.

Automated Ground Collision Avoidance System (AGCAS)

The advanced fighter jet is also fitted with precision GPS navigation and automated ground collision avoidance system (AGCAS), which provides the pilot with alerts of imminent collision with the ground and controls the aircraft to avoid a collision in case of pilot’s unresponsiveness to visual cues.

Weapon System

It is armed with a range of air-to-air missiles (AAMs) that includes the AIM-9 Sidewinder, Magic II and ASRAAM short-range AAMs, AIM-7, Sky Flash, and AIM-120 medium-range’s AAMs. The high off-bore-sight, infrared AAMs such as AIM-9X, Python IV, AIM-132 ASRAAM and IRIS-T will also be offered.

The aircraft also supports the integration of AGM-119/AGM-84/AGM-65G anti-ship missiles, and AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground tactical missile, as well as Paveway laser-guided bombs, GBU-15 bombs and wind corrected munitions dispenser weapons.

Due to space constraint, please Google Search each of the mentioned armaments for understanding and appreciation.

The onboard Sniper advanced targeting pod (ATP) offers high air-to-surface and air-to-air targeting capability to the F-16V. It supports the launch of all laser-guided and GPS-guided weapons against multiple stationary and moving targets. The aircraft can be integrated with FLIR/laser system, and reconnaissance and navigation pods.

Electronic Warfare Equipment

The Viper fighter is equipped with upgraded electronic warfare equipment and modern threat warning systems, including jammers, threat warning receivers, electronic countermeasures equipment pods, as well as chaff and infrared flare dispensers to defend the most dangerous threats in complex battlefield scenarios.

Powerful Engine

The fighter jet is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 or a General Electric F110-GE-129 turbofan engine. The F100-PW-229 develops a thrust of 29,100lb, whereas the F110-GE-129 generates a power of 29,500lb. The power-plant provides the aircraft with a maximum speed of Mach 2 and a range of 1,740nmi.

Our 12 South Korean made F/A 50 Ph is each powered by either the Eurojet’s EJ200 or General Electric’s F414 engine with a thrust power of 20,000 lb to 22,000 lb and a maximum supersonic speed of 1,837.5km/h (Mach 1.5).

(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)