The chief of the Philippine Air Force on Friday admitted that the country's air defense capability is weak due to limited radar capability and a small Air Force fleet of 66 operational aircraft.

PAF chief Lt. Gen. Oscar Rabena said most of the 66 operational aircraft are UH-1H or Huey helicopters. The PAF fleet includes a number of S211 trainer jets, which are the main assets used for aerial territorial patrol but are sometimes aided by OV-10 bomber planes.

"Our defense is basically at very low level because we only have jet trainer aircraft (for territorial defense) and of course, we have limited capability as far as radars are concerned," Rabena said.

"We have a limited capability (in monitoring foreign aerial intrusions)...We can only cover so much," he added.

But the official said he was optimistic that this weakness will be addressed once the military finishes fighting domestic security threats such as the New People's Army. President Arroyo earlier ordered the military to finish off the communist insurgency before her term ends next year.

"The priority for our government now is really finishing our insurgency problem and so resources are channeled on air assets that will help defeat our enemies, in so far as ISO (internal security operation) is concerned," he said.

"As we improve on our counter insurgency campaign...we then transition to improving our capabilities for territorial defense which means (acquisition of) fighter aircraft, long range radars and maritime patrol air craft."

Rabena is referring to the P350-billion modernization program of the Armed Forces which was approved by Congress as early as 1996. The national government started allocating P5 billion a year for the program four years later.

"Part of the modernization program is acquisition of long range radars and if these will be pre-positioned in strategic areas, then we would cover our territorial air space," the official also said.

Meanwhile, Rabena announced that the Air Force had recently brought back to service a C-130 aircraft, which provides heavy-lift capability to the military. The Air Force now has two C-130s that are operational.

The recently-activated aircraft had undergone refurbishing under the Foreign Military Sales with the United States. He said at least $4.5 million was spent for the aicraft.

A third C-130 is at a storage facility and the Air Force is planning to revive the plane but this may entail a cost of P185 million. Five others remain idle but these are no longer feasible to be repaired.

Rabena said he is eyeing the acquisition of a refurbished C-130 costing P1.7 billion. He said the ideal number of C-130s that should be maintained by the Air Force is four.

C-130s are usually used for the transport of troops to far areas and in the transport of relief goods to areas affected by disasters.