The United States has approved the potential sale of 20 F-16 fighter jets to Manila, giving the key US ally in the Indo-Pacific a major upgrade to its air force just days after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed to counter “China’s aggression.”
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced the proposed sale of the F-16s and related equipment, worth an estimated $5.58 billion, in a statement on Tuesday.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a strategic partner that continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in Southeast Asia,” DSCA said.
The announcement comes less than a week after Hegseth visited the Philippines, his first trip to Asia as defense chief, and said Washington will enhance its military alliance with Manila as it aims to “reestablish deterrence” to counter “China’s aggression” in the Indo-Pacific region.
On Wednesday, China cautioned Manila on the deal.
“Any defense and security cooperation that the Philippines engages in with other countries should not target or harm the interests of any third party, nor should it threaten regional peace and security or escalate tensions in the region,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.
“As for who is fueling the flames, who is provoking military confrontation, and who is turning Asia into a powder keg, we believe that regional countries can see the situation clearly.”
The Philippines has been on the front lines of China’s increasingly aggressive posture in Asia. Beijing seeks to assert its claim over the bulk of the South China Sea, despite an international ruling denying its sovereignty over the waterway.
Hegseth said Friday the US would deploy additional advanced military capabilities to the US ally for joint training, enhance interoperability for “high end operations” and prioritize defense industrial cooperation.
In its statement, DSCA said Manila had requested to buy 16 F-16Cs – single-seat, single-engine fighter jets – and four F-16Ds, dual-seat jets that are usually used for training purposes.
The F-16s are the block 70/72 newest variant of the workhorse military warplane, which entered service with the US Air Force in the late 1970s.
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin says the new F-16s are the world’s most advanced fourth-generation fighter, touting a “structural service life” of more than 12,000 hours.
The F-16s, along with advanced avionics, radar and weaponry included in the deal, are a significant upgrade to the Philippine Air Force’s fighter fleet. Currently, it has only 12 South Korean-made FA-50 jets, a lighter ground attack and fighter jet.
The F-16s have a top speed of more than 1,500 miles per hour, Lockheed Martin says, about 350 mph faster than the FA-50.
Speaking alongside Philippine Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro on Friday, Hegseth called the US-Philippine relationship an “ironclad alliance, particularly in the face of Communist China’s aggression in the region.”
The Trump administration has vowed to “truly prioritize a shift” to the Indo-Pacific, Hegseth said, with the “recognition that for the 21st century to be a free century, America needs to stand alongside our allies and partners shoulder to shoulder.”
The American military presence in Asia is seen by allies as a critical counterbalance in a fractious region where China has been rapidly expanding its military might and a belligerent North Korea has been empowered by closer ties with Russia.
Trump has repeatedly questioned the structure of US military alliances and whether the US was getting enough out of such partnerships and basing arrangements, including those in Asia where tens of thousands of troops are stationed in sprawling bases in Japan and South Korea.