Manila, March 19 -- The grounding of the FA-50PH fighter jet fleet does not affect the country's maritime domain awareness (MDA) capability in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), a ranking naval official said late Tuesday.

"The MDA capability of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) has different components. One of these components is the air component composed of different aircraft to include the FA-50. The FA-50 is not the major contributor for our MDA although they form part of the overall picture," Philippine Navy (PN) spokesperson for the WPS, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, said in a media briefing.

The Philippine Air Force's (PAF) 11 remaining FA-50PH fighter jets were ordered grounded on March 5 after the crash of a similar ai...