MANILA: The Philippines wants to upgrade its military with mid-range missiles and advanced fighter jets, two senior security officials said on Thursday, spending at least $33 billion as it modernizes its defense in the face of growing regional tensions.
The military wants to acquire more cutting-edge weaponry, armed forces chief Romeo Brawner told reporters, hours after Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro announced the Philippines was reviewing offers to buy more weapons.
“We are wanting to get more of the latest weapons systems. That includes the mid-range capability,” Brawner told a joint media conference with US Indo-Pacific Commander Samuel Paparo in the northern city of Baguio.
Both the Philippines and ally the United States are preparing for what could be the largest joint military exercises next year, Paparo said, as security engagements between the two nations have increased to counter what they perceive as China’s growing assertiveness.
In April, the United States deployed its intermediate range missile system in the northern Philippines during military drills, angering China which said its presence “brought huge risks of war into the region.”
The missile, which remains in the Philippines, was not fired during the exercises, but was shipped to test the feasibility of transporting the 40-ton weapon system by air.
The Philippines has been embroiled in frequent run-ins at sea and on air with China in the South China Sea.
It plans to spend at least 1.894 trillion pesos ($33.74 billion) to modernize and boost its military’s external defense capabilities, which could include buying the 40 jets, Teodoro earlier said during a congressional hearing on his department’s budget.
He declined to the name the countries that had submitted tenders or the fighter jet model it plans to acquire, adding: “The bidding is a secret process right now, but we are continuing to review tenders that are acceptable.”
“We are also investing in other deterrent capabilities that are deterrents, not necessarily multi-role fighters,” he said.
To fund the jets which could cost between 300 to 400 billion pesos ($5.3 to $7.1 billion), the government is looking at reasonable financing schemes, including tapping syndicated loans from private lenders, Teodoro added.
Military chief Brawner had previously said the Philippines needed “faster and more lethal” multi-role jet fighters on top of its South Korean FA-50s. Teodoro said the Philippines aims to award tenders “as soon as possible as long as our financial requirements are met.”
Philippines eyes mid-range missiles, 40 fighter jets to modernize military
https://arab.news/pz28k
Philippines eyes mid-range missiles, 40 fighter jets to modernize military
- Bidders must submit a proposed financing package where payment can be spread out – defense chief
- The Philippines is seeking to modernize and beef up its military inventory
EU parliament approves 90-bn-euro loan for Ukraine amid US cuts
- awmakers voted by 458 to 140 in favor of the loan, intended to cover two-thirds of Ukraine’s financial needs for 2026 and 2027
The EU parliament on Wednesday approved a 90-billion-euro loan for Ukraine, providing a financial lifeline to cash-strapped Kyiv four years into Russia’s invasion.
Lawmakers voted by 458 to 140 in favor of the loan, intended to cover two-thirds of Ukraine’s financial needs for 2026 and 2027 and backed by the EU’s common budget — after plans to tap frozen Russian central bank assets fell by the wayside.
Military aid to Ukraine hit its lowest level in 2025 as the US pulled funding, leaving Europe almost alone in footing the bill and averting a complete collapse, the Kiel Institute said Wednesday.
Kyiv's allies allocated 36 billion euros ($42.9 billion) in military aid in 2025, down 14 percent from 41.1 billion euros the previous year, according to Kiel, which tracks military, financial and humanitarian assistance pledged and delivered to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion.
Military aid in 2025 was even lower than in 2022, despite the invasion not taking place until February 24 that year.
US aid came to a complete halt with President Donald Trump's return to the White House in early 2025.
Washington provided roughly half of all military assistance between 2022 and 2024.
European countries have thus made a significant effort to plug the gap, increasing their collective allocation by 67 percent in 2025 compared with the 2022-2024 average.
Without that effort, the US cuts could have been even more damaging, the institute argued.
However, the think tank points to "growing disparities" among European contributors, with Northern and Western European countries accounting for around 95 percent of military aid.
The institute calculated that Northern European countries (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden) provided 33 percent of European military aid in 2025, despite accounting for only eight percent of the combined GDP of European donor countries.
Southern Europe, which accounts for 19 percent of the combined GDP of European donors, contributed just three percent.
To help fill the gap left by the United States, NATO launched the PURL programme, under which European donors purchased US weapons for Ukraine, worth 3.7 billion euros in 2025.
Kiel called the initiative a "notable development", which had enabled the acquisition of Patriot air-defense batteries and HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems.
European allies are also increasingly placing orders with Ukraine's own defence industry, following a trend started by Denmark in 2024.
War-torn Ukraine's defence production capacity has "grown by a factor of 35" since 2022, according to Kiel, but Kyiv lacks the funds to procure enough weapons to keep its factories working at full capacity.
Orders from 11 European donor countries helped bridge that gap last year.
In the second half of 2025, 22 percent of weapons purchases for Ukraine were procured domestically, a record high.
