Philippine Air Force begins training for operation of Rafael's Spyder air defense system

The Air Force has purchased 3 batteries worth about $124 million which are to be delivered starting from this year

Philippine Air Force begins training for operation of Rafael's Spyder air defense system

The Spyder system. Photo: Rafael

The Philippine website Inquirer.net reports that earlier this month the Philippine Air Force began training a group of its troops to operate Israeli company Rafael's Spyder air defense system, which is due to be delivered during 2021. The training involves 10 officers from the Air Force's 960th Air and Missile Defense group, according to the report.

The Philippine Air Force has purchased 3 Spyder batteries, including radars, command and control equipment and Python 5 and I-Derby missiles worth about $124 million. The site says that both the Python 5 and the I-Derby could be used as ground-to-air or air-to-air missiles, which means that the Air Force's FA-50 light combat aircraft could be armed with them.