The Department of National Defense is looking to buy brand-new aircraft and armored vehicles, and refurbished helicopters on top of two warships it reportedly already plans to buy.
The Defense Department is set to buy 15 fixed-wing aircraft, 28 M113 armored personnel carriers, and 21 refurbished Huey helicopters, an official of DND who refused to be named for lack of authority told GMA News Online in a phone interview on Thursday.
DND’s seeming shopping spree of vehicles are part of its Revised Modernization Program, the source said. The program has a P85.3-billion fund that can be used within a five-year period from 2013 to 2017.
The P882-million contract for the procurement of the APCs was awarded last week, the source said.
The contract included the purchase of four infantry-fighting M113s, four armored-recovery M113s, six armored personnel carrier M113s, and 14 fire-support M113s.
The APCs, which have been used by militaries since the 1960s, are expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2015.
Meanwhile, the contracts for the refurbished helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are still in the pipeline of negotiations.
In a text message to GMA News Online, Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala, Armed Forces public affairs chief, confirmed the Defense department is eyeing the purchase of two warships, worth P75 billion, for the Navy.
“That is part of our minimum credible defense stated in our modernization and capability upgrade program. The two additional frigates are already up for bidding at DND BAC (Department of Defense bids and awards committee),” he said.
An earlier report on daily Philippine Star said the Defense department is eyeing two ships from the United States under the $40-million military assistance pledge made by US Secretary of State John Kerry last December.
The country has acquired two former US Coast Guard Hamilton-class cutters—BRP Gregorio del Pilar and BRP Ramon Alcaraz—that have since been commissioned into the Philippine fleet. The Philippine Navy classifies them as Del Pilar-class frigates.
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