Philippines Eye Acquisition Dozen of Surplus South Korean Helicopters

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Philippines acquisition dozen of surplus south korean helicopters. the philippine Department of National Defense (DND) on friday has expressed its intent to acquire surplus Bell UH-1H and Mcdonnell Douglas Helicopters from south korea.

Secretary of national defense Delfin lorenzana expressed the intent in a congratulatory letter to newly appointed south korean defense minister sue wook. he added the dnd plans to conduct a Joint Venture Inspection (JVI) in the fourth quarter of this year. The JVI will be conducted following strict bias safety protocols amid the ongoing covet 19 pandemic by a team composed of representatives from the DND and the armed forces of the philippines. 

Philippine department of national defense DND spokesperson Arsenio Andalong said in a message the acquisition project for the south korean UH-1H and ND 500 helicopters is still in the exploratory stage with the details yet to be finalized including the timeline and number of rotary winged aircraft to be acquired. South Korea is known to have retired UH-IH and ND 500 helicopters from military service early this year.

The Philippine Air Force (PA) is known to operate a number of UH-IH and ND 500 helicopters in its fleet. The PAF uses the UH-1H primarily for cargo and personnel transport and disaster relief missions while variants or models of the ND 500 in its inventory are utilized for ground attack or close air support sorties. The acquisition project for the south korean UH-1H and ND 500 helicopters is still in the exploratory stage with the details yet to be finalized including the timeline and quantity of the assets to be acquired.

The Bell UH-1 iroquois nicknamed huey is a utility military helicopter powered by a single turboshaft engine with two bladed main and tail rotors. The UH-1 was the first turbine-powered helicopter produced for the united states military and more than 16,000 have been built since 1960. The Iroquois was originally designated HU-1 which has remained in common use, despite the official redesignation to UH-1 in 1962.

The MD helicopter's ND 500 series is an american family of light utility civilian and military helicopters. The ND 500 was developed from the hughes 500, a civilian version of the u.s army's OH 6A Caius Loch. The series currently includes the ND 500A, MD-520N and ND-530F. DND's acquisition of surplus soaker helicopters. Manila the department of national defense on friday has expressed its intent to acquire surplus bell UH-1H and mcdonnell douglas helicopters from south korea.