Department of National Defense (DND) spokesperson Peter Paul Galvez declined to issue any statement regarding Chinese carrier Liaoning's first ever successful flight deck operations but stressed that the country's modernization program is still on go.
"We wish to refrain from answering to avoid any misinterpretation of statements. As for us, we continue to work double time to achieve the targets in our modernization efforts," he said.
In the pipeline for the Armed Forces of the Philippines' modernization program are two "Maestrale" class missile-firing frigates, two anti-submarine helicopters, 12 South Korean fighter aircraft, to name a few.
The Chinese-made J-15 fighter successfully landed on their first ever aircraft carrier during a recent fleet exercise.
The Liaoning went into service in September in a symbolic milestone for China's growing military muscle.
The J-15 is a Chinese designed multi-purpose carrier-borne fighter jet based on Russia's Sukhoi 33, equipped with high-powered engines and capable of carrying precision-guided bombs and air-to-air missiles.
China bought the stripped-down 300-meter aircraft carrier from Ukraine nearly 10 years ago and refurbished it at the north-eastern port of Dalian.
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