However internal air force reports
suggest a delivery date in november. The philippines was the first to report
a delivery of attack helicopters. Their
reporting was later confirmed by the
department of national defense.
Department spokesman arsenio andalong
commented on the delivery of the cobra, the single-engine 2-I attack helicopter
arriving at path headquarters at clark
air base will be used primarily for
close air support in the internal
security operations of the armed forces
of the philippines. He described the cobra donation as a
manifestation of the whitening of our
circle of friends, referring to the
strengthened military cooperation
between the philippines and jordan that
facilitated the donation of attack
helicopters.
He added that the arrival of
cobra would help troops on the ground
and increase the overall capabilities of
the philippine air force. Philippine air force pilots and ground
crew were previously sent to jordan for
training to fly and operate the cobra. In
addition the philippine air force has
budgeted 45.7 million philippine pesos, 2.4 million dollars for maintenance and
spare parts for the cobra.
The reassembly of the two cobras is now
underway at clark air base. Once assembly is complete, they will be
inspected and tested in preparation for
their official acceptance by secretary
of defense Delfin Lorenzana. National
security adviser Herma Jean Zesburn jr
expects cobra to be operational by the
end of december.
Cobra will be operated by the 20th
assault squadron, 15th assault wing. The
squadron currently operates md 520 MG defenders from danilo adienza air base
in cavite south of Manila. negotiations are ongoing for two more
cobras. The philippine air force
currently plans to purchase six turkish T-129 attack attack helicopters but the
future of those plans is in doubt
following the united states refusal to
allow exports of engine components
critical to the construction of the T-129.
