A recent photo from the Northern Luzon Command has shown one of the Philippine Air Force's FA-50PH Fighting Eagle LCA armed with a GBU-12 Paveway II smart bomb.
Originally the FA-50PH does not have this capability although upgrades have been quietly made on the PAF-owned aircraft, which MaxDefense Philippines reported months ago to differentiate the PAF FA-50s from other FA-50/TA-50/T-50s currently operational with other countries.
This photo reinforces our previous report on the upgrades. We now have to wait for a photo of the PAF FA-50s with BVRAAM and Sniper Pods to see how far the upgrades went especially on its Israeli-made mechanically-scanning fire control radar.
Next-generation radar provides superior battlespace situational awarenessEL SEGUNDO, Calif., Oct. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon, an RTX (NYSE: RTX) business, has delivered the first PhantomStrike® radar to Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) for their FA-50 Light Combat Aircraft...