The Philippine Air Force has been relatively obscure, as they haven’t had proper combat aircraft for 17 years. Recently, the Philippine side revealed that during adversarial training with the U.S. Air Force, their trainer aircraft successfully locked onto an F-22, demonstrating the capability of Philippine pilots to potentially shoot down a fifth-generation fighter.
The story of the Philippine trainer aircraft “locking on and shooting down” an F-22 comes from the commemorative diary of the 76th anniversary of the Philippine Air Force’s Fifth Fighter Wing. According to the Philippine account, during the “Cope Thunder” 23-2 air combat exercise, a Philippine F/A-50 momentarily locked onto a U.S. F-22, and the Philippine pilot excitedly reported via radio that they had simulated a kill using air-to-air missiles. The Fifth Fighter Wing recorded this achievement in its “family history,” reflecting the excitement and pride of the Philippine Air Force regarding this exercise performance.
The F/A-50 is a combat trainer aircraft based on the T-50 “Golden Eagle” advanced trainer aircraft. South Korea exported a batch of F/A-50s to the Philippines at a relatively low cost, making it the most advanced operational aircraft in the Philippine Air Force. However, the F/A-50’s combat capabilities are not particularly strong. It performs well in low-altitude, low-speed maneuvers in the subsonic range, but it faces significant challenges when it comes to high-speed combat against typical fourth-generation fighters like the F-16, not to mention competing with the F-22. While the F/A-50 has upgraded avionics and a fire control radar compared to the T-50, it still lags significantly behind proper combat aircraft, let alone the F-22.
From the HUD screenshot released by the Philippine side showing the “lock-on” of the F-22, it is clear that the U.S. Air Force was deliberately lenient. The F-22 fighter aircraft was carrying two external fuel tanks while engaging the F/A-50 trainer aircraft, which is akin to a boxer stepping into the ring with two heavy bags strapped to their back. According to conventional aerial combat rules, fighter aircraft would drop their external fuel tanks when entering close-range combat to reduce weight and aerodynamic drag. The fact that the U.S. Air Force pilot didn’t do this clearly indicates an intentional act to make the exercise easier.
Looking closely at the HUD screenshot of the F/A-50, you can also see that the number in the air-to-air missile column reads “99.” It is evident that the rules of engagement favored the Philippine side in this air combat exercise. As the display for air-to-air missiles on the HUD is limited to two digits, “99” does not represent 99 air-to-air missiles but rather an unlimited quantity of air-to-air missiles, essentially allowing the Philippine Air Force pilots to fire at will without worrying about missile supply, making it seem as if the exercise was heavily rigged.
The legend of “shooting down” an F-22 occurred during the Cope Thunder 23-2 exercise this year. Cope Thunder emphasizes the enhancement of the U.S. Air Force’s expeditionary capabilities and aims to improve interoperability between the U.S. and Philippine air forces, enabling both countries to exchange tactics, military technology, and command procedures to strengthen military cooperation. To put it plainly, it’s about ensuring that the U.S. Air Force can quickly deploy to Philippine air bases in preparation for future conflicts.
This year’s Cope Thunder exercise took place primarily at Philippine air bases such as Clark and MacTan, with the U.S. Air Force deploying F-22 and F-16 fighter aircraft, while the Philippine side used their only combat-capable aircraft, the F/A-50. Given the vast performance differences between these two aircraft and the fact that the F/A-50 was co-developed with Lockheed Martin, the U.S. Air Force had no need to understand its capabilities. The Philippine Air Force’s pilot skill level is also not particularly high, rendering such simulated engagements almost pointless for the U.S. Air Force, essentially seen as amusing children and letting them experience what it’s like to go up against fifth-generation aircraft.
The U.S. Air Force’s decision to have the F-22 enter the battle carrying two external fuel tanks demonstrates their disregard. For stealth fighter aircraft, carrying external fuel tanks exposes their position. Not only do these tanks have their radar cross-section (RCS), but radar waves will also bounce between the aircraft and the tanks, creating a mutual reflection effect that further increases the aircraft’s RCS. Stealth fighter aircraft, in aerial combat, aim to carry their missiles internally in weapon bays, let alone external fuel tanks. The F-22’s external tanks have a capacity of 600 gallons (approximately 2,217 liters), and the combined weight of the two tanks is roughly 4.5 metric tons, while the F-22 itself only weighs around 15 metric tons. It is difficult to imagine an F-22 engaging in aerial combat in such a configuration.
The U.S. Air Force is well aware that such exercises hold little value. Stealth fighters are designed to avoid close-range combat and to eliminate adversaries in beyond-visual-range engagements. For fourth-and-a-half-generation and earlier fighter aircraft, it might be challenging to even detect where the enemy is before being shot down. The U.S. Air Force’s decision to go easy on the Philippine side is simple: it’s to boost the confidence of the Philippine military and let them feel emboldened to provoke conflicts in the South China Sea.
Certain individuals in the Philippines have consistently been incited by the U.S. to stir up trouble in the South China Sea, but the Philippines has a significant capability gap when compared to us, and they often end up as cannon fodder. In such a scenario, the U.S. needs to play its part in bolstering these individuals, giving them the courage to act as cannon fodder. Providing the Philippine Air Force with the opportunity to “shoot down” an F-22 essentially implies, between the lines, that if you can take down a U.S. F-22 in aerial combat, why would you fear the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s J-20?
So, when we witness certain individuals in the Philippines brimming with confidence, causing trouble in areas like Ren’ai Reef, Scarborough Shoal, and Zhongye Island in the South China Sea, it’s a result of this “encouragement” by the U.S. The U.S. Air Force’s creation of these dramatic episodes is, in reality, part of its “Return to the Philippines” strategy. The U.S. Air Force’s presence along the southern perimeter of the First Island Chain is weak, lacking strong footholds, and they can only launch expeditions from Guam. China is in a position to wait and respond. The U.S. military has already marked the area east of the Bashi Channel as a forward deployment area for aircraft carriers, much like a sharp sword aimed directly at the U.S. island chain.
Therefore, the U.S. hopes to expand its presence in the Philippines, which would give them a new foothold south of the First Island Chain, allowing them to conduct attacks on China’s carrier battle groups from the south and offer support to the Taiwan Strait theater, enhancing their ability to interfere in the Taiwan Strait scenario and potentially blocking the Malacca and Lombok Straits, thus disrupting China’s energy supply routes. On a deeper level, the U.S. also hopes to use the Philippines as a pivot point to drive a wedge between us and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), straining China’s relationships in the region and impeding China’s development. (Wang Yanan)