5 days ago
US gov't seen to make formal fighter-jet sale offer to PH ‘soon' — Lockheed Martin
An F-16 fighter jet from the US Pacific Air Forces is among the US aircraft participating in the Cope Thunder exercises with the Philippine Air Force starting Monday, April 7, 2025 in various PAF bases in Luzon. CHINO GASTON/GMA Integrated News/File photo
American aerospace and defense technology company Lockheed Martin has expressed optimism that the formal offer for the planned sale of $5.58-billion in F-16 fighter jets to the Philippines will be extended by the US government sooner.
At a press briefing in Taguig City on Wednesday, Lockheed Martin Integrated Fighter Group Business Development Vice President Aimee Burnett said, 'It is up to the US government to make that [formal] offer.'
She was asked to comment on Defense Secretary Gliberto Teodoro's pronouncement, at a defense summit in Singapore, that the Philippines is yet to receive a formal offer from the State Department to purchase 20 16 jets and related equipment.
To recall, last April, the State Department announced it has approved the sale of $5.58-billion F-16 fighter jets to the Philippines.
Burnett clarified that while Lockheed Martin will be providing the F-16 Block 70 jets, the discussions are still between the US and the Philippine governments.
The formal offer, she said, would be 'the decision to be made by the US government…'
'We do believe that it's gonna be soon… We do expect it to be soon but the exact date of that offer is up to the US government,' she said.
Burnett said that apart from F-16 jets, Lockheed Martin is also proposing the establishment of an Innovation Center in the Philippines — which would be the focal point for research and development collaboration, technology transfer and investment.
The defense technology company would also be providing maintenance, repair and overhaul capabilities to the country by providing technologies and equipment to local industrial partners to allow them to directly repair Philippine Air Force aircraft.
'Lockheed Martin's partnership with the Philippines extends beyond providing military capability…,' said Burnett, noting that the company's offer to the Philippines would be a 'total package approach' as it aims to train Filipino technicians, enable in-country maintenance, as well as allocate funds for research.
Last week, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez disclosed that the Philippines is working with the US and Lockheed Martin to determine how it can finance the major F-16 acquisition. — BAP, GMA Integrated News
