Of FA-50s and Gripens

First, an announcement on the first Ilocano cardinal in the 2,000-year history of the Roman Catholic Church.

Tomorrow, March 11, the Archdiocese of Cotabato will be holding a thanksgiving celebration to honor His Eminence, Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, OMI, DD on the occasion of four milestones in his life:

• receiving the title of cardinal (Feb. 22, 2014)

• 75th birthday (March 11, 2014)

• 50th priestly ordination anniversary (June 5, 2014)

• 34th episcopal ordination anniversary (Oct. 28, 2014)

A Eucharistic Concelebration at 4 p.m. at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cotabato City will be followed by a testimonial dinner in the evening at the South Seas Mall on Magallanes Street.

* * *

On Thursday, March 13, the Divine Word Seminary Tagaytay in partnership with the XVD Association and the Lay Society of St. Arnold Janssen is sponsoring a “Dinner for the Missions,” featuring a conversation between Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle and John L. Allen Jr., senior Vatican analyst of CNN, and author of “The Future Church.” The dinner is at 7 p.m. at the Elements, Eton Sentris, Edsa corner Quezon Avenue, Quezon City.

* * *

Last month, the Department of Defense announced the return of the Philippine Air Force to the supersonic age.

Defense Undersecretary Fernando Manalo, speaking to reporters, said that negotiations between the Philippines and Korea Aerospace Industries have resulted in an agreement to provide the Philippine Air Force with 12 FA-50 lead-in fighter trainers. The FA-50 is part of a family of advanced jet trainers with limited capabilities and weaponry. The term “lead-in” indicates its primary function: It prepares pilots for eventual multi-role fighters, like the Lockheed F-16 that apparently is the ultimate objective of the Air Force. As Col. Miguel Okol, PAF spokesperson indicated, the FA-50 is a step lower than a multi-role aircraft.

The other candidate of the Philippine Air Force was the Saab Gripen, a multi-role fighter plane manufactured by a Swedish company. In fact, the initial information I received was that the Gripen was the choice of the Air Force. The Swedish flight program does not utilize lead-in trainers. It relies more on simulators complemented by basic jet trainers. It also provides for immediate leasing arrangements to facilitate a faster transition period.

But setting aside issues relating to training doctrines and programs, the question I pose is: Why are we asking President Aquino to allow a down payment of 52 percent of the entire cost when the law allows only 15 percent? Whenever we operate outside the law, Juan de la Cruz is entitled to know the circumstances that may justify any exception.

This matter was never fully addressed by Undersecretary Manalo. But as sure as night follows day, it will be raised when the proper time comes, and a new administration may decide to take a closer look at the lesser-known details of this acquisition. By the way, the delivery schedule under the agreement calls for two aircraft to be turned over 18 months after the signing of the contract and another two a year later. This probably means that if arrangements push through, we may have four by the time President Aquino steps down from office in 2016.

Incidentally, may we also inquire as to the status of the 20 helicopters that the Air Force was supposed to have received more than a year ago? These choppers are a vital component of disaster relief efforts that the nation must be prepared to carry out in the face of continuing climate change situations.

* * *

Relative to the issue of fighter planes that were just mentioned, I received an interesting e-mail from my sister, a long-time resident of Geneva, Switzerland. She related the following incident concerning Flight ET 702 of Ethiopian Airlines.

“On Monday 17 February at about 4 am, Skyguide controllers at Geneva Airport were alerted to the unusual path taken by Flight ET 702 of Ethiopian Airlines that was

supposed to land in Rome at 4:40 am. The 202 passengers were mostly Italians. The co-pilot, waiting for the pilot to use the toilet, then locked himself in the cockpit and requested landing in Geneva for refueling. Later via a radio exchange with the control tower, the co-pilot made it clear that he was hijacking the plane in order to request political asylum in Switzerland. Ethiopian Airlines assured the Swiss that the man was not mentally unstable. In fact he had been working for them for the past five years and had no reason to seek asylum.”

Two Italian planes of the EuroFighter-type escorted the Boeing 767 and after a while, two Mirage 2000 fighter planes of the French Air Force took over from the Italians. No Swiss fighter planes appeared to take control of the incident.  When the plane landed at Geneva International Airport, the hijacker pilot opened a window of the cockpit, threw down a ladder, and gave himself up to the police, informing them that he was the lone hijacker on board. The passengers were allowed to leave the plane one by one, hands behind their heads, and frisked summarily before being allowed into the terminal.

The question being asked was why no Swiss fighter planes flew up to escort the hijacked plane from the French border to Geneva.

The answer of Swiss Air Force’s PR person Laurent Savary: “Because of financial reasons, we do not have the capacity to intervene 24/7.” Swiss air bases are open from 8 a.m. to 12 noon, and from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., except for Monday evening when the jet fighters do night exercises.

On May 14, the Swiss vote for the possible acquisition of 22 Gripen fighter planes costing 3.1 billion Swiss francs, including ground installations and pilot training. The Swiss Federal Defense Department defends this purchase by saying that Switzerland could no longer guarantee surveillance of airspace 24/7 without the new fighter planes.

The Swiss are chuckling over this situation. Many people believe they can do with less of the new Gripen fighter planes, suggesting instead that perhaps more funds should be utilized for the upgrade of existing capabilities and arrangements.

We do not know the exact state of Swiss air defenses but it does seem strange that no Swiss fighter planes were alerted and sent into action by the incident.

The hijacker now in police custody faces up to 20 years in prison.