The Swedish JAS-39 Gripen on its way to win against the American F-16V in the Philippines?

The Swedish manufacturer SAAB has reason to be satisfied with its fighter, the JAS-39 Gripen. Indeed, despite the aggressive push by the State Department and Lockheed-Martin to try to get its Gripen out of Manila's good graces, Philippine Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez and Swedish Defense Minister , Pål Jonson, indeed signed a Memorandum of Understanding or MoU on the occasion of the Shangri-la meetings in Singapore, paving the way for the acquisition by the Philippine Air Force of the JAS-39 Gripen fighter.

For the time being, this MoU only attests to the opening of direct negotiations between the two countries for the acquisition of a dozen fighters, these having to come to reinforce the dozen FA-50 light fighters acquired from South Korea in 2012, the devices having been delivered until 2017.

For Manila, it is a question of strengthening its defensive capacities, in particular in the face of the rise in tension with China, whether around the question of Beijing's claims in the South China Sea, that Sino-American tensions around Taiwan.

A few weeks ago, following the official visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to Manila, to meet their Philippine counterparts and strengthen ties between the two countries bound by a defense pact, the US authorities had proposed the sale of 12 F-16V Block 70 to the Philippine air force, in a plan including in particular the redeployment of US forces in the country as well as $100 million in aid to acquire American utility helicopters.

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