The Philippine Navy said the number of flyable assets of its Naval Air Group (NAG) is getting a much-needed boost with the commissioning of the three AgustaWestland AW-109 "Power" helicopters on Thursday.
The Navy's AW-109s arrived at
The newly-acquired air assets were flown to
Prior to this, the NAG only operates one Robinson R-22 helicopter, Blohm B0-150 helicopter, two Islander aircraft and four Cessna light utility planes.
With the arrival of the three AW-109s, the number of flyable assets of the NAG has increased to 11.
NAG pilots, who were trained to fly the AW-109s in Cesto Calende, Italy, said the AgustaWestland aircraft is very much suited for a rotary wing machine.
They added that the AW-109s is very maneuverable and very ideal for shipboard deployment.
The AW-109s will be deployed to increase the range, surveillance and detection capability of the two Gregorio Del Pilar class frigates in Philippine service.
Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Fabic, Navy spokesperson, earlier said that another two AW-109s are expected to join the NAG by the third quarter of 2014.
This version will be the armed version of the AgustaWestland aircraft and will also be used for shipboard operations.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=597934
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