(Yearender) PAF to go local for maintenance needs

From the Philippine News Agency (Dec 30): (Yearender) PAF to go local for maintenance needs

With the Philippine Air Force (PAF) poised to acquire several modern platforms this coming years, a ranking official of the military air arm has announced that the PAF will use local industries and support units in maintaining its new aircraft and systems. Major Gen.Raul Dimatatac, PAF vice commander, said that such efforts are now underway. He cited the case of the PAF's latest C-130 Lockheed "Hercules" cargo aircraft which was commissioned and put in active service last Dec. 28 after undergoing overhaul and maintenance with the 410th Maintenance Wing. The C-130, with tail number 3633, was overhauled and put into commission at the cost of P549 million or P45 million cheaper than the P594 million spent to maintain a similar C-130 in the United States.

"We are slowly building up the capabilities of our 410th Maintenance Wing and the ability to conduct structural maintenance program is part of this," Dimatatac stressed. He added that this capability was started in 2010 and as seen by the results, seemed efficient enough. "We could have brought that C-130 in active service as early as June 2011 but the birth pains of doing our very first depot level maintenance and long lines of spare parts slowed down our efforts," Dimatatac stressed.  However, the PAF vice commander said with this behind them, he expects repair and overhaul of aircraft and air systems to be much quicker thanks to the experience gained in refurbishing its very first C-130. Incidentally, the successful maintenance of the 410th Maintenance Wing of the cargo plane boosted the number of C-130s in the PAF fleet to three. The last time the PAF has three operational C-130s in its inventory was in 1989. Dimatatac said that having three operational C-130 cargo planes in service will allow the PAF greater mandate in fulfilling its humanitarian and community development missions, not to mention its airlift capability.

The C-130 is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport aircraft. The versatile airframe has found uses in a variety of other roles, including as a gunship (AC-130), for airborne assault, search and rescue, scientific research support, weather reconnaissance, aerial refueling, maritime patrol and aerial firefighting. It is now the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide. Over 40 models and variants of the Hercules serve with more than 60 nations. The C-130 entered service with the US in the 1950s, followed by Australia, among others. During its years of service, the Hercules family has participated in countless military, civilian and humanitarian aid operations. The family has the longest continuous production run of any military aircraft in history. In 2007, the C-130 became the fifth aircraft—after the English Electric Canberra, Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, Tupolev Tu-95, and Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker—to mark 50 years of continuous use with its original primary customer, in this case, the United States Air Force. The C-130 is also the only military aircraft to remain in continuous production for 50 years with its original customer, as the updated C-130J Super Hercules. "

This year has been a very productive year for the PAF and this has certainly been a remarkable achievement and a good way to end calendar year 2012. With this, I am definitely looking forward for more notable maintenance feats in the coming year," Dimatatac concluded.

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