Department of War Undersecretary for Policy Elbridge Colby made the remarks in Manila on Monday amid growing concerns that China has been narrowing the gap — or eclipsing — U.S. military capabilities, as its demands in the Middle East have potentially drained stockpiles.

“There’s been a lot of news about the United States military being stretched. Please don’t be misinformed,” Colby told Manila’s defense and security elites at a closed-door event organized by the Stratbase Institute think tank.

“The United States military, and especially including those [maritime and aerospace] capabilities, are ready and capable of filling the priority missions that the president has given to them,” Colby said.

Colby, one of the Pentagon’s leading strategists, has pushed to prioritize the Indo-Pacific and East Asia over the Middle East and Europe. The Manila stop is the first in a week-long Southeast Asian tour that includes visits to Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia.

His visit also comes amid an increasingly tense period between Manila and Beijing following a confrontation in Second Thomas Shoal on July 20, when Chinese personnel hit and wounded a Philippine Navy sailor in the head.

The incident triggered another tit-for-tat between Manila and Beijing over the contents of a highly classified “provisional agreement” reportedly signed in 2024 that allows Philippine vessels to safely deliver supplies to troops stationed aboard the BRP Sierra Madre floating outpost.

After last month’s incident, officials noted that China has appeared more assertive, indicating a shift in how China perceives the implications of the mutual defense treaty.

Tensions have also intensified as China has routinely deployed carrier strike groups in the West Philippine Sea, and last month, fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile toward the Pacific.

While military deterrence forms one component of the U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific, Washington is employing a “strategy of strong, clear, but quiet” action designed to address the challenge without altering the status quo, according to Colby.

“In terms of our relationship with China, I think we’ve been able to communicate…our approach directly to Chinese counterparts,” Colby said.

“We combine a clear diplomatic line, a policy of respect towards the People’s Republic [of China], clarity about…our being in favor of the status quo, along with…strength in terms of being willing to defend our interests and those of our allies like the Philippines,” he added.

Apart from strengthening the U.S.’ forward posture and fielding combat-credible forces, Colby noted that measures are being set up, albeit quietly, to allow for the U.S. to come to the Philippines’ aid.

Colby described the U.S. approach to the region as “defensive” and “aligns with the interests of regional states.”

“We’re not trying to dominate this whole region. It’s a strategy of denial, designed to deny any state the ability to become the regional hegemon,” Colby said.

The visit comes a week after the Pacific Command and the Philippine armed forces signed an eight-point partnership plan for 2027, which includes an undisclosed series of joint military exercises, and before President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the U.S. in September.

“If you are trying to project power, whoever you are, into the aerospace and maritime environment in the Indo-Pacific, you are going to come up against the very best military in the world at its apex predator status,” Colby concluded.

Defense Logistics Agency head Yusuf Jauhan told reporters in late June that plans to domestically produce the jets will not materialize, confirming speculations that Jakarta had cancelled agreements to domestically manufacture the Korean jets under a 2015 co-production agreement.

The KF-21 Boramae, developed by Korea Aerospace Industries, is a twin-engine fighter designed to succeed South Korea’s aging F-4 and F-5 fleets. Indonesia intended to use these jets to replace older warplanes.

Jakarta had initially agreed to cover 20% of the development cost, then priced at 1.6 trillion won ($1.3 billion), to be paid until 2026. The deal includes the transfer of one prototype and technology that would allow state-owned PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) to produce 48 units of KF-21 Block-I fighter jets in Bandung.

But the agreement had been bogged down by delayed payments and allegations of sensitive data theft, which were carried into numerous renegotiations on cost-sharing arrangements.

In 2024, Jakarta requested to extend the payment timeline until 2034, but Seoul declined because it would derail deployment plans. The countries eventually agreed to reduce Indonesia’s contribution to 600 million won, but the deal will significantly lessen tech transfer coverage.

There had been confusion on the status of the KF-21 co-production deal, which had been kept tightly under wraps.

Earlier in April, Indonesian authorities revealed that the KF-21’s domestic production would no longer push through and confirmed in June that the government had scrapped the program.

This comes after Jakarta finished settling the 600 million won commitment under the reduced agreement in exchange for a single-seat KF-21 prototype. Officials also said they are more interested in buying ready-made jets.

Jakarta’s decision “appears to be largely practical and financial,” Ju Hyung Kim, president of the Security Management Institute think tank, told Defense News.

“Indonesia may still want the aircraft, but not necessarily the burdens of local co-production. From Seoul’s perspective, this is probably easier to manage and potentially more attractive for the KF-21’s broader export campaign,” Kim said.

If Jakarta’s plans push through, Indonesia would also become a good first reference case for the KF-21 jets and will boost its market potential, Kim said.

Local officials said that procurement plans are still being explored. PTDI told Defense News that internal discussions are ongoing and no definitive plan has been established.

While purchasing the KF-21 remains on the table for Jakarta, official sources told Defense News the odds are in favor of existing contractors with more attractive tech transfer arrangements.

Officials are reportedly weighing the purchase of 24 additional French Dassault Rafale jets to supplement the 42 jets the government ordered under a contract signed in 2022.

Jakarta also signed in April an overseas loan scheme to buy 48 KAAN stealth jets from Turkish Aerospace Industries worth $10 billion, which will be delivered beginning in 2032.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct the name of the president of the Security Management Institute think tank.

The U.S. Embassy in the Philippines announced this week the transfer of the AUSVs worth 754 million pesos ($13 million) and produced by American firm Ocean Aero to the sea forces to enhance capabilities “to detect and respond to maritime challenges and illegal maritime activities.”

The transfer comes after the Armed Forces of the Philippines revealed that China discreetly deployed a 6×6 meter floating platform equipped with an antenna in late May at the southeastern portion of Scarborough Shoal, a fishing lagoon within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

Philippine officials claim the platform was being used to illegally gather Philippine maritime data and could serve as a prelude for China’s island-building activities. Philippine officials lodged diplomatic protests, and China removed the structure last week.

Solar-powered Tritons are capable of autonomous navigation both on the surface and underwater and can support a diverse array of missions such as intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), anti-submarine warfare, maritime strike, and mine countermeasures.

The drones can be fitted with video cameras, thermal imaging and sonars, and may be deployed from shore, vessels, or aircraft. It can dive down to 100 meters and remain underwater for 10 days. It can also conduct surface patrols for up to 30 days.

In Ocean Aero’s headquarters in Gulfport, Mississippi, the AUSVs are mobilized to protect subsea cables from sabotage, and the company has pitched the AUSVs for U.S. Navy mine-clearing in the Strait of Hormuz.

Officials told Defense News the AUSVs were shown to the Navy during the recent iteration of Exercise Balikatan and are among a series of systems and platforms the U.S. had planned to transfer to the Philippines to boost military capabilities.

The Tritons will also boost existing efforts to monitor subsea cables and gas pipelines, officials said.

“The ability to monitor and respond to maritime challenges — illegal fishing, gray zone activities, and threats to freedom of navigation — requires persistent, long-endurance awareness that no single ship or aircraft can provide alone. The Triton fills that gap by expanding the capabilities of the Philippine Navy into critical waterways,” U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Bridgette Walker said in a statement.

The drones are included in the Philippines-U.S. Security Sector Assistance Roadmap, a multi-year agreement to ease the acquisition, transfer, and sharing of equipment like radars and unmanned systems to strengthen maritime surveillance.

Last December, the U.S. Senate earmarked $2.5 billion for Philippine military modernization to be disbursed from 2026 to 2030.

State procurement agency Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency has released notices for a demonstration schedule next month with the goal of fast-tracking acquisitions and expediting mass production and deployment.

The interceptor drone systems are expected to be installed by 2027 near radar sites, bases, vessels and other critical locations, the agency stated.

This follows an earlier notice released by the Ministry of Defense late last month for autonomous unmanned systems that could detect and counter swarms of “multiple long-range suicide UAVs … such as the Shahed-136.”

The envisioned craft should already be in use by other armed forces and have successfully shot down Shahed-like drones, according to the notice. In addition, they must be able to connect with existing radars and command-and-control systems, require two or fewer personnel for stand-off launch and flight management, and need minimal and simple maintenance.

The interceptor drones are recent additions to Japan’s massive UAV fleet plan. The ministry had been in talks with drone firm Terra Drone since the company fielded two types of interceptor drones in Ukraine through Kyiv-based startups.

In March, Terra Drone divulged investments in Amazing Drones to field Terra 1, a rocket-type interceptor, and two months later launched fixed-wing variant Terra 2 through Ukrainian defense tech firm WinnyLab.

The feedback is “very much positive,” company CEO Toru Tokushige told Defense News. He said there had been great interest in the interceptors, especially within the Japanese defense ministry.

Drone technology is quickly evolving in Ukraine, affirming the importance of interceptor drones as low-cost alternatives to interceptor missiles, Tokushige said.

Meanwhile, the conflict in the Middle East has shown the lethality of Shahed-like drones, which have been used more extensively than missiles.

The extended reach of the Shahed drones has also raised the stakes in East Asia. The aircraft flew as far as 1,100 miles from Tehran to Tel Aviv, and while battlefield circumstances and geography vary, the distance means such weapons launched in Northeast Asia could reach Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.

“Originally my image of the defense industry is that it’s very much traditional, very much bureaucratic, very slow. But after visiting Ukraine, and also because of the war in the Middle East, everybody understands the value of drones and the value of investing in drones,” Tokushige said.

The Japanese government’s urgent call for proposals comes after reports that the U.S. military’s 38-day Iran campaign under Operation Epic Fury has strained missile stockpiles.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank warned of a “near-term risk” munitions shortage after the Iran campaign, which has already delayed U.S. supply contracts with European allies, raising worries that it could also push back Tomahawk deliveries for Japan.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi both denied the Tomahawk conundrum, but Koizumi said the ministry plans to develop more domestic missile systems. This comes on top of a recent production agreement under Operation Supercharge, which will see the U.S. and Japan jointly manufacture interceptor missiles such as the SM-6 and SM-3.

Japan’s defensive umbrella, set to be completed in 2027 after five years, includes fielding standoff capabilities, missile defense networks, and unmanned systems such as drones, ground vehicles, and submarines.

Budget allocated for unmanned defense capabilities alone leaped this year to 277 billion yen ($1.72 billion) from 111 billion yen ($690 million) in 2025.

And the government’s move to increase defense spending up to 3.5% of GDP will likely see more investments in unmanned systems. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on June 9 approved a proposal to produce some 80,000 drones annually by 2030, though allocations have not been finalized.

Col. Dennis Hernandez of the Philippine Marines told Defense News the cruise missile was launched at around 12:10 a.m local time on May 5 and landed at the impact area within Fort Magsaysay, the Army’s main battle camp, in Laur, Nueva Ecija, roughly an hour later.

“The missile was very precise. Let’s say if you want to hit a window from a far distance, it lands directly into that window,” Hernandez said. “This skimming missile traveled all the way from Tacloban to the target in Laur.”

Exercise officials meant for the Tomahawk missile to support ground troops in a night land maneuver exercise led by the 25th Infantry Division in Fort Magsaysay, part of the ongoing Balikatan annual joint drills between American and Filipino troops.

This year’s Balikatan drill involves roughly 17,000 troops from Japan, Australia, France, Canada and New Zealand.

The Typhon launcher’s presence in the Philippines, let alone a test-firing of one of its variable munitions, has irked Chinese officials because of its long-range capability, especially when loaded with Tomahawks.

Philippine officials said training on the Typhon missile system will help guide future acquisitions.

There was some back-and-forth earlier in the exercise about whether the Typhon launch would happen at all. Local defense officials initially announced it for May 4 or May 5, but U.S. military officials suggested it could be canceled because of unspecified “obstacles.”

In the end, the launch was timed ahead of a joint maritime strike in Ilocos Norte, according to exercise planners. That event will feature the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Type 88 anti-ship missile system and the U.S. Marine Corps’ NMESIS weapon, a mobile, shore-based missile launcher designed to sink ships.

An April 27 navigational warning issued by the Philippine Coast Guard in Eastern Visayas, where Tacloban City is located, urged locals to take precautionary measures from May 5 until May 7 due to activities in the waters off San Pedro Bay during the Balikatan exercises.

Later, another notice was issued to warn residents of a missile-related activity involving the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile system (TLAM).

“Using the Tomahawk was planned — but it depended on the scenario on the ground. There’s a control group that controls the scenario and the exercise and if it is needed, then it is fired,” Hernandez explained.

“It just so happened that the scenario last night required using the Tomahawk to support ground troops,” he added.

Gordon Arthur contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: This story was updated the correct the distance traveled by the Tomahawk missile and the exact launch time.

This development marks a key shift in the country’s defense strategy. Japan committed to acquiring 400 Tomahawks last year to equip its eight Aegis destroyers as part of a larger standoff capability, which includes fielding upgraded Type 12 missiles in the southwest and deploying hyper velocity gliding projectile systems across the country.

The existing missile defense network may not be fully capable of responding to threats, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters in a briefing on Friday.

“To prevent missiles flying through the missile defense network and to prevent further armed attacks, it is necessary to … have the ability to counterattack. Stand-off missiles can also be used for this counterattack ability,” Koizumi said.

The destroyer’s launcher modification marks a landmark milestone in the country’s efforts to rapidly deploy stand-off capabilities and bolster deterrence measures, he added.

Stand-off weaponry describes a class of arms with ranges so long that operators can fire them from a safe distance, without fearing countermeasures capable of reaching them.

The defense ministry introduced stand-off capabilities in 2017, and it formed the core of the security strategy shift in 2020, which later expanded to additional policy documents, including a detailed buildup plan in the country’s southwest in 2022.

The Tomahawk cruise missiles can be launched from ships or submarines with a range of over 1,600km. The Japanese variant can be rerouted during flight, and advanced versions are capable of hitting moving targets.

The refitted JS Chokai can load and fire both the Block IV and V variants of the cruise missiles.

JS Chokai arrived at Naval Base San Diego, California, in October 2025 for renovations and crew training with the U.S. Third Fleet. Live-fire training is scheduled for August, before JS Chokai returns to its home port in Sasebo Naval Base in the southwestern Kyushu Island in September.

Japan is moving toward a “denial and limited strike” model by fast-tracking the implementation of its 2022 strategy, maritime security expert Benjamin Blandin told Defense News. Blandin is a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taiwan.

“Japan is operationalizing a long overdue counterstrike capability, shifting from strict homeland defense to semi-regional deterrence by being able to strike ground and naval targets at up to 1000 km,” Blandin said.

Japan’s existing defense force, including its stand-off missile capability, is the “minimum necessary for self-defense,” Koizumi said, adding that these would only be used “in the event of an armed attack from another country … and it does not pose a threat to other countries.”

Analysts have raised worries that the U.S. Tomahawk stockpile may be strained after reports indicated that over 800 missiles were used in four weeks during Operation Epic Fury against Iran, and this might impact missile orders for allies, including Japan.

Blandin said Japan’s Tomahawk orders are unlikely to be affected immediately, but prolonged military campaigns in the Middle East could cause minor to moderate setbacks.

American manufacturer RTX, in a Feb. 4 press release, said it had signed five agreements with the U.S. Department of Defense to boost production and expedite deliveries of Land Attack and Maritime Strike variants of the Tomahawk cruise missiles, with annual production expected to increase to more than 1,000.

“No major impact expected in regards to Iran, as deliveries will not take place all at once but probably over the course of a few years,” Blandin said. “In any case, the U.S. will likely prioritize Japan as a key Indo-Pacific ally.”

The Ministry of Defense had begun transporting upgraded versions of the Type 12 anti-ship guided missiles to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces’ Kengun Camp in central Kyushu Island as early as March 9, with troop deployment set for March 31.

The Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles are an upgraded variant of a shorter-range Type 12, which has been deployed since 2019. The new Type 12 SSMs can reach approximately 1,000 kilometers and have enhanced stealth capabilities.

The missiles form the core of Japan’s air and missile defense strategy. Japan’s standoff capability buildup includes deploying homegrown missiles and acquiring Tomahawk cruise missiles to be launched from modified Aegis destroyers.

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the missiles were intended to thwart “and eliminate invading enemy ships and landing forces at an early and far distance.”

Aside from the Type 12s, the ministry has scheduled the deployment of another indigenous missile system on March 31. The defense ministry will begin fielding the new hyper velocity gliding projectile (HVGP) in Camp Fuji, a training facility shared between the Ground Self-Defense Force and the U.S. Marine Corps, some 100 kilometers west of Tokyo.

The HVGP is a mobile, ground-launched supersonic weapon that flies in irregular trajectories, making it difficult to intercept. The defense ministry said the system will be stationed in the camp but will be deployed to different areas for various missions in the future, including deployment to remote islands to counter invading threats.

Koizumi said earlier this week that the live-fire exercises and the troop training at the Higashi Fuji Training Ground, the GSDF’s main training area, “are of great significance for improving the deterrence and resilience of the Japan-U.S. alliance.”

Apart from sending a unit to Camp Fuji, Japan also intends to deploy the HVGPs to Camp Kamifurano in Hokkaido in the country’s north, and Camp Ebino on the southeastern Kyushu Island.

The JGSDF is also deploying ground-to-ship missiles to Minamitorishima Island, an isolated coral atoll in the northwestern Pacific, for live-fire drills and electronic warfare training as early as June. Officials said the island is being prepared ahead of planned exercises this year.

Japan plans to develop a hypersonic version of the HVGP with U.S. support. The U.S. State Department approved the foreign military sale of equipment and services worth $340 million for the HVGP program on March 25, a week after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met with President Donald Trump in Washington.

The guided missile frigate BRP Miguel Malvar was conducting a routine sovereignty patrol near Sabina Shoal, located 75 nautical miles from Palawan province, on March 7 when a People’s Liberation Army-Navy vessel with bow number 622 directed its sensor toward the Philippine ship.

“In accordance with standard procedures, the Philippine Navy immediately issued a radio challenge, prompting the PLA-Navy vessel to deactivate its radar and reduce tensions,” the sea service said in a statement.

Philippine military chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Japan-Philippines conference organized by the Manila-based Stratbase ADR Institute think tank on Tuesday, said: “Our sailors responded appropriately by challenging the actions of the Chinese vessel.”

“China’s conduct is comparable to aiming a firearm at a person, and we addressed them directly for this behavior. After we challenged them, they stopped,” Brawner said.

This recent confrontation is the latest episode in a long-running conflict in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes, which China claims in its entirety. Chinese ships loitering in the West Philippines Sea have used water cannons, pointed lasers, and engaged in dangerous maneuvers to block resupply missions and impede fisherfolk access to fishing grounds in the area.

The radar lock incident is not the first time China has directed its systems against Philippine ships. In 2020, a PLA Navy ship with bow number 514 targeted BRP Conrado Yap, an anti-submarine corvette, with its gun control director in the Spratly Islands.

BRP Conrado Yap was not equipped with electronic capabilities to accurately verify the Chinese vessel’s actions, but officials told Defense News the 2020 incident underscored that the government’s pro-China policy at the time will not shield vessels from coercive in the South China Sea.

“We have to understand Chinese warfighting thought, which is to force us to fire the first shot, to force us to escalate the situation,” Navy inspector general Rear. Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad told reporters during a military press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday.

He stated that the navy will continue to act with restraint and respond only within the bounds of international law.

Tokyo and Beijing had earlier traded barbs over a similar incident in December last year, when Japanese minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Chinese fighter jets directed their fire-control radar against Japanese F-15 jets in two separate incidents near Okinawa.

The move comes as the ruling party advances efforts to relax stringent export restrictions on defense equipment and weaponry. The government has not disclosed yet how it plans to overcome fiscal bumps, but the National Diet, Japan’s legislature, is expected to approve allocations for the jets this month.

Parliament had earlier eased export restrictions on GCAP, which is short for Global Combat Air Programme, but an overhaul of the key defense transfer policy may completely lift limitations and allow future exports to countries at war.

The changes are also expected to clear the way for the 11 Mogami-class frigates for the Royal Australian Navy, which Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi is scheduled to finalize later this month.

In the next-generation warplane effort, there has been a delay in the contract between the three governments, represented by the GCAP International Government Organisation (GIGO), and the industry joint venture named Edgewing, which represents national contractors BAE Systems, Leonardo and Japan Aircraft Industrial Enhancement Co. Ltd., a firm owned by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies.

Edgewing was set to get its first design work contract by the end of 2025, but the contract has been held up by the delay of delivery of the British Defense Investment Plan, which was due to contain the necessary funding.

That plan, in turn, was originally due last fall, but has been held up amid high-level efforts to contend with budget shortfalls in the U.K.

Shigeki Muto, a retired lieutenant general and former head of the Air Defense Command, told Defense News that delays in the contract signing between GIGO and Edgewing “indicate uncertainty in financial commitments in design and organizational setup,” which could impede major investments from Edgewing.

For now, the British delay seems manageable, perhaps impacting prototype manufacturing by a matter of months or a year, said Muto.

“At present, this situation should be interpreted as a funding adjustment phase rather than a structural crisis,” he added.

GCAP is Japan’s most expensive defense project and its first international co-production deal with European allies. Set to replace the defense forces’ F-2 fighters, compounding delays with the new aircraft could create gaps later on, according to retired Lt. Gen. Eiichirou Fukazawa, a former Northern Air Defense Force commander.

“Considering the increasing pressure from China’s military capabilities, delays in introducing new combat capabilities would impact negatively on Japan’s overall defense posture,” he said.

Reports indicate that costs have tripled, but it’s unclear if the Japanese government under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi would augment this year’s budget for GCAP, earlier earmarked at 700 billion yen ($4.44 billion) for initial research and development from 2023 until 2027.

Experts say a front-load contribution can be justified while easing political backlash: Japan will likely become GCAP’s primary operator, and the tech transfer for fighter development will boost the domestic defense industry, which will advance global expansion goals.

Additionally, shouldering the initial fiscal burden creates an advantage because it allows “expanded access to technology, gives Japan stronger negotiating power, and achieves greater leadership influence, which would be beneficial for future defense exports,” Muto explained.

The government has largely been satisfied with the GCAP program, says Yoko Iwama, Professor at the Tokyo-based National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, a state think tank.

“This partnership with the Europeans is a new experiment and a sort of de-risking from the Americans — it’s been seen that way here,” Iwama told Defense News.

“We are quite aware of the difficulties involved with an international collaboration because we have experience dealing with the Americans. We know it’s not going to be easy, but we thought it was a risk worth taking and it has shown it was worth taking, seeing the Trump administration,” Iwama said.

Reports surfaced that Germany might be open to joining GCAP, but details remain behind closed doors. Japan’s position on Germany’s participation will be weighed by numerous factors, experts say, but concerns are ripe in Tokyo that adding any new player could hold up development.

The government “places high importance on adhering to the original development schedule and would likely view the participation of new players as undesirable,” Fukazawa said.

Tom Kington in Rome contributed to this report.

Earlier this week, the Philippine ambassador to the U.S., Jose Manuel Romualdez, said the Philippines is “not closing its doors” to the possibility of acquiring the American jets, but it would take “imaginative and creative ways” to fund the program.

Late last year, Romualdez said acquisitions are “on hold” due to funding, which is being allocated to other projects.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo in November that he had returned Lockheed’s proposal, which carries a $5.58 billion price tag for 20 F-16 Block 70/72 with AN/APG-83 AESA radars and the establishment of a research and training center in the Philippines.

“It was beyond the approved budget ceiling, so they have to resubmit [some documents]. Anything is under consideration. What is not in consideration right now—which should be considered—is the funding,” Teodoro said.

The Philippines has an ongoing bid to refresh its fleet after retiring 10 Northrop F-5 A/B Freedom Fighters in 2005.

To fill operational gaps, the government acquired 12 FA-50 combat jets in 2015 and last year signed the deal for another fleet. The FA-50s were to serve as trainer jets before the air force’s upgrade to more advanced warplanes.

The defense department is reportedly looking at purchasing around 40 multirole fighter jets under the existing modernization program. But funding remains the bigger problem.

Of 188 projects under a three-phase Horizon military modernization program, only 59 have been accomplished so far due to limited appropriations.

In 2025, Congress slashed the proposed 50 billion pesos ($863 million) fund down to 35 billion pesos, which derailed six projects.

While the country’s defense budget jumped by 12.3% at 310 billion pesos ($5.35 billion) this year, modernization funds stagnated at 40 billion pesos ($691 million).

“Let’s stop kidding around. If we only get 40 billion pesos every year, let’s just do project-based programs and opt for loans with longer financing terms,” Teodoro told lawmakers during last year’s deliberations.

Congress, however, increased “unprogrammed” funds — or allocations that could be funded if cash becomes available by year’s end — to 50 billion. But budget experts say these funds are too iffy to serve as planning assumptions.

The F-16s are not the only options on the table for Manila. The department has received pitches and is in discussions for Saab’s JAS Gripen E/F, Leonardo’s Eurofighter Typhoons, and Korea Aerospace Industry’s new KF-21 Boramae.

When asked if the defense department had already chosen a warplane, Teodoro said: “Give me the funds today, I’ll make the decision.”