US approves sale of F-16s, missiles to the Philippines

摘要

The United States has approved the sale to the Philippines of the latest-variant Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft, as well as air-launched air-to-air and anti-ship missiles, for an estimated USD2.6 billion. In three notifications issued on 24 June, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said the US State Department had cleared the sale of 10 single-seat Block 70/72 and two twin-seat Block 70/72 F-16V fighters (in the approval they are given F-16C/D designations, rather than the usual F-16V for this standard of aircraft), 24 Raytheon AIM-9X Sidewinder Block Ⅱ air-to-air missiles, and 12 Boeing AGM-84L-1 Harpoon Block Ⅱ anti-ship missiles.