President Rodrigo Duterte had
approved the acquisition of more
polish-built blackhawk helicopters to
address helicopter lift deficiency. Cabinet secretary Carlo Alexei B said in last february 2021 the latest batch of black hawk
helicopters arrived more than three
months after a C-130 plane of the
military crashed killing 50 people. The july 4th accident happened two weeks
after a blackhawk helicopter carrying
six soldiers crashed during a night
flying exercise in Tarlac province.
The u.s embassy in Manila also said the
u.s had delivered four units of scan
eagle unmanned aerial system to the
philippine air force. The P200-million security system would boost
the southeast asian nation's unmanned
intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance, it said in a separate
statement, it would also be used for counter
terrorism, humanitarian assistance and
disaster relief efforts. It added we remain committed to our promises on
helping modernize the armed forces of
the philippines and we hope this will
further strengthen our combined
capabilities in working together towards
a free and open indo-pacific charged
affair at interim heather varyava said
in the statement.
The southeast asian country already had
16 S-70i Black Blackhawks on order with
the first five delivered in november
2020. These were ordered under a 241 million
dollar contract signed between the two
governments in 2019.According to defense
news the helicopters are made by poland's PZL Milak a unit of lockheed martin which
also owns sikorsky, the original
manufacturer of the black hawk.
Acquiring more black hawks would allow
the philippines to retire its fleet of
bell UH-1 Huey Helicopters, a design that
dates back to the 1960s and that has
suffered from a spate of crashes and
accidents, the defense news website said. Kyle Aristoferte Adienza, defense secretary Delfin Inn Lorenzana Led the turnover of five S 70i black
hawks and four scan eagles at clark air
base Pampanga on 2021.
U.S turns over helicopters surveillance
equipment to PAF. Philippines the united states turned
over five black hawk helicopters and
four-scan eagle unmanned aerial system
worth 20 million to the philippine air
force during a ceremony at clark air
base in pampanga on wednesday. The donation aims to increase the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) domain
awareness and border security
capabilities. These platforms will provide additional
capabilities in unmanned intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance as well as
support counter-terrorism humanitarian
assistance and disaster relief efforts.
U.S Charge Da Faire Heather variaba
joined admiral John Aquilino commander
of u.s indo-pacific command and
representatives from the embassy's joint
u.s military assistance group during the
turnover. Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana who
attended the ceremony along with paf
commanding general lieutenant general Alan Paredes said the new helicopters
would be crucial in keeping communities
and people safe from security threats
and disasters. With additional for long endurance low
altitudes scan eagle unmanned aerial
vehicles our aerial reconnaissance and
surveillance capabilities will be
enhanced.
Lorenzana said
with five more black hawks the
philippine air force can now better
provide prompt and sustained day and
night tactical heli lift in combat and
non-combat search and rescue operations. He added, very ava said the us remains committed
to its promise of helping modernize the
armed forces of the philippines, noting
this will further strengthen the
combined capabilities of the two
countries in working together toward a
free and open indo-pacific. The us provides the AFP with grant
assistance and expedites sales of arms
and munitions to support the philippine
military modernization goals and
maritime security efforts and
counterterrorism and humanitarian
assistance as well as disaster relief
requirements.
The philippines is the largest recipient
of u.s military assistance in the
indo-pacific region. Since 2015 the us has delivered more
than 50.6 billion worth of planes, ships, armored vehicles, small arms and
other military equipment to the
philippines as its soldiers trained side
by side with filipino troopers. Aussies safe three crew members of
australia's navy MH-60 our seahawk
helicopter survived after ditching their
air asset in the philippine sea during a
routine flight overnight, the australian
department of defense said yesterday.
Australia said the aircraft was
operating from HMAS brisbane as part of
the regional presence deployment with HMAS Waramonga when the crew conducted
an emergency landing in the water. HMAS brisbane deployed sea boats and
rescued the crew 20 minutes after the
incident. The crew received first aid treatment
for minor injuries upon their return to
the brisbane.
Australian fleet commander rear admiral Mark Hammond commended the crews of both
ships for responding quickly. The successful rescue is credit to the
devotion to duty and skill of the
officers and sailors of HMAS Brisbane. Hammond said
their immediate actions ensured the
survival of the aircrew validating the
significant training undertaken in the
event an emergency of this nature occurs, he said.
