Page 6 - ADT APRIL 2022 Online Magazine

500 short-range air support munitions, 8 UMTAS anti-tank missiles, Meanwhile, the Department of National
16 CIRIT laser-guided missiles and 8 Stinger air-to-air missiles. Defense’s (DND) said the procurement process
of 17 units of Russian-made Mil Mi-17 heavy lift
helicopters will push through despite Russia’s
Growing Force ongoing military invasion in Ukraine. Lorenzana [ REPORT ]
Almost the same time, the AFP took delivery of a new C-295 air- said the contract for the procurement of the
craft, the first of the three units being bought by the country. The helicopters was signed in November 2020 and
new aircraft is part of the first batch of deliveries bought from the the downpayment was given in January of this
Airbus Defense and Space company under the military’s Command year.
and Control Fixed-Wing Turboprop Acquisition project. The new
C-295 will be used to transport personnel and equipment. It will also
be used for disaster relief and humanitarian assistance operations “THE HEAVY LIFT HELICOPTER
of the military, according to the AFP.
PROCUREMENT PROJECT WITH
The Philippines is also planning to buy 32 Black Hawk helicopters RUSSIA IS ON TRACK. THE
from a Polish manufacturer for more than US$620 million. With the CONTRACT WAS SIGNED AND THE
additional units, the PAF fleet will increase to 48 helicopters, includ- DOWN PAYMENT [WAS] DONE
ing the 16 units that were delivered earlier. While the Philippines has
traditionally procured US military helicopters, it has faced difficulty BEFORE THE UKRAINE CRISIS
keeping its ageing Vietnam era fleet of Bell ‘Huey’ helicopters in HAPPENED,” Lorenzana said.
the air. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte had called for the “AND NO, WE DO NOT SEE ANY
helicopters’ decommissioning earlier this year after a Bell UH-1D LIKELIHOOD OF BEING SCRAPPED
helicopter crashed in Bukidnon, killing seven personnel. Philippines
Defence Secretary Lorenzana said that PAF “is very happy with AS OF THIS MOMENT,” he added.
the Black Hawk helicopters…Hopefully, the delivery of these new
utility helicopters will start soon.” The heavy-lift helicopter acquisition is a
multi-year procurement contract between
the Philippine government and Russia. The
budget for the project is US$12.7 billion and
the first batch of the helos will be delivered in
24 months.

Lorenzana also expressed confidence that
the Philippines will not be affected by the
Countering America’s Adversaries Through
Sanctions Act (CAATSA), a United States law
which imposes sanctions against countries
buying military and defence materials from
hostile countries with US, including Russia. A
U.S. government official, who didn’t want to be
identified, said since the Philippines already
has many Canadian and U.S. helicopters in its
arsenal, the Russian Mi-17 would have limited
interoperability and require its own separate
maintenance infrastructure that would be an
additional cost.

Making a fast-track purchase of Russian sys-
tems without a thorough analysis of comparable
systems risks being a poor use of precious
national resources and does not appreciably
add to its national defence, he added. The U.S.
is looking at selling its CH-47 Chinook heavy lift
helicopters and the AH-6 light attack and armed
reconnaissance helicopters for the Philippines
military. A Boeing spokesperson said that the
company had offered its CH-47 and that “the
PAF would prefer obviously American-made…
because interoperability is very important.”

6 | April 2022 WWW .GBP .COM.SG/ ADT