The Blackhawk choppers which will be
ordered from Poland's PZL Mielec cost P32 billion while the OPV's from Australia's Austal were worth at least P30 billion. The philippine government
earlier procured 16 units of black hawk
helicopters for P12.1 billion from the
same polish manufacturer to replace
aging Vietnamira Huis A/1-h used mainly
for transport tasks. One black hawk unit
crashed in Tarlac last june during a
night flight raining, killing all six air
force personnel on board. Investigation
said bad weather caused the crash.
The
path recently retired some of its aging
hueys as it acquires new helicopters. Duterte earlier this year approved the
acquisition of additional helicopters
after a spate of crashes that started in
2020.
The department of national defence
entered into an implementing arrangement
with Poland on the procurement of
defence material and equipment earlier
this year. Lorenzana was also in poland
in november to meet his counterpart
minister Marius Blaschak. Helicopters are
crucial in the philippines an
archipelago of more than 7600 islands
where transport is difficult especially
during calamities. They are used in
search and rescue missions, closed air
support, medical evacuation and disaster
response.
Maritime patrol boost, the opvs from Austal will significantly boost the
navy's maritime patrols around the
philippine archipelago. Lorenzana had
said the ships will be built in the
austal facility in Balamban, Cebu Province. It is unclear if the plan to
acquire two corvettes for the navy
initially said to be from south korea
and worth P28 billion would also get
funding.
"We are still hoping, that the
corvette will be funded and contract
signed during this administration," Lorenzana said.
The Philippines and our chippelagic
state with one of the world's longest
coastlines and most islands, faces an
array of maritime security challenges, ranging from the west philippine sea
dispute to terrorism. The ill-equipped
philippine armed forces one of the
weakest in the region has been trying to
upgrade its capabilities in recent years
with a meagre budget.
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