RP air defense deactivated

With all air and no force to speak of, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) has deactivated the Air Defense Command – the country’s first line of defense against foreign intrusion from the air.

But PAF chief Lt. Gen. Jose Reyes said the ADC deactivation was merely part of "restructuring efforts" by the Air Force to focus more on the internal security in the country.

The ADC is one of the PAF major commands that monitor and guard the country’s airspace from hostile aircraft.

The ADC has the sole responsibility of dispatching any of the country’s fighter jets to intercept hostile intruders.

With the ADC now defunct, the PAF top brass declared they would focus their efforts instead on "Internal Security Operations."

Reyes said the ADC would be replaced with the Air Defense Wing with Maj. Gen. Christie Datu to head the newly formed Air Force unit.

Aside from the ADC, several major PAF units are also scheduled for deactivation in line with the ongoing defense restructuring program, Reyes said.

Considered to be the best air force in Southeast Asia in the 1960s, the PAF has since become the weakest in the region with aging Huey helicopters and a number of S-211 trainer jets in its inventory.

Experienced pilots noted that S-211 jets could not be modified to serve as fighter planes since they were principally built to train airmen for surveillance missions.

A ranking Air Force official said the PAF had been clamoring to purchase modern fighter jets but he claimed the US government is blocking these efforts.

"They (US government) want us to just concentrate on the internal security operations by using our troops against the New People’s Army (NPA) and other threat groups in the country," the PAF official said.

"They don’t want us to have these modern fighting jets," the official claimed.

Several pilots earlier claimed the PAF was about to purchase a number of F5 fighter jets under its program but the project was canceled.