MANILA, Philippines – The US State Department announced on Wednesday, April 2 (late April 1 in Washington DC) that it had approved the “possible” sale of F-16 aircraft to the Philippines.

In total, the 20 aircraft will cost an estimated $5.58 billion, said the US Defense Department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) in a release.

“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a strategic partner that continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in Southeast Asia,” said the DSCA.

The possible purchase, as approved by the DSCA, includes 16 F-16 C Block aircraft, four F-16 D Block aircraft, 20 installed engines and 4 spares, radars, missile launches and missiles, and anti-aircraft guns, among others. “The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region,” it added.

Assistant Secretary Arsenio Andolong of the Philippines’ Department of National Defense said they have “not received any official notice of such a decision.”

Purchases of this sort, after all, must go through a process in the US first.

US law requires that its Congress — in particular, the House committee on foreign affairs and the Senate committee on foreign relations — be notified, through a certification. The US Congress is expected to enact a joint resolution “before the end of the prescribed review period” before a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) is offered to Manila.

If Congress does not come up with a joint resolution, the US government can then go ahead and issue its LOA “when the review period expires.”

Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez told Rappler that funding for the potential $5.58 billion purchase could be funded through a “possible combination” of the Philippine annual budget for the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and a loan between Manila and Washington.

The Philippines aims to purchase at least 40 fighter jets as part of Horizon 3, or phase 3 of the military’s long-delayed modernization program. It’s a plan that had been reworked after the Philippines pivoted its national security policy to external defense after decades of fighting insurgencies.

Military modernization has been an uphill climb for the Philippines — with funding issues on top of the usual delays in the bureacracy.

In the 2025 budget, for instance, only P35 billion was approved for military modernization by Congress. The executive had asked for over P50 billion for modernization in 2025.

The DSCA’s findings, in approving the possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS), reflects the rhetoric US officials have used in describing its relationship with its long-standing treaty-ally the Philippines.

In particular, the DSCA highlighted that the possible sale would:

“Enhance the Philippine Air Force’s ability to conduct maritime domain awareness and close air support missions and enhance its suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) and aerial interdiction capabilities”

“Increase the ability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to protect vital interests and territory, as well as expand interoperability with the U.S. forces. The Philippines will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces.”

Defense support

A Foreign Military Sale is one means through which a country may purchase or receive US-made defense articles and services either “with their own funds or with funds provided through US Government-sponsored assistance programs.”

The other method is through Direct Commercial Sales (DCS).

What makes FMS different? According to the DSCA’s website, an FMS purchase “can provide an international partner contract administrative services that may not be available through the private sector.” It could also mean lower unit costs for the purchasing country.

A DCS, as the term implies, is a direct transaction between an “international partner” and a US company.

“Major FMS programs also nurture long-term relationships with the US military, including access to joint training and doctrine and increased opportunities for interoperability with US forces. Under FMS, the customer is assured that the acquisition process will be subject to DoD’s standards through every step of the process,” says the DSCA.

Interoperability is a key word here — referring to the ability of two different units, in this case, the US military and the Armed Forces of the Philippines — to work together seamlessly.

It’s a buzzword in the joint exercises that the Philippines and the US conduct, whether it be the flagship Balikatan or the regular bilateral and multilateral exercises in the West Philippine Sea.

During a March 28 visit to Manila — his first in the Indo-Pacific – US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the “ironclad alliance has never been stronger,” as he announced the continuation of a $500 million foreign military financing pledge, deployment of new US capabilities, “advanced bilateral Special Operations Forces training” in the nothernmost Batanes province, as well as bilateral defense industrial cooperation.