Great strides have been made in the acquisition of air
assets and other equipment for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
This was stressed by President Benigno S. Aquino III during
his last State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) Monday.
He made this statement after noting that the Philippine Air
Force (PAF) now has three Lockheed C-130 "Hercules" cargo planes in
its inventory compared to the one it possessed during the previous
administration.
Aquino also said that two more C-130s are scheduled to
arrive within the next two years to augment the existing fleet.
The Chief Executive also added that the first of three EADS
CASA C-295 medium lift transport have been delivered and another two will be
commissioned before the end of the year.
He added that the PAF will also acquire two C-212 aircraft
which will be also delivered.
This is on top of the 13 AgustaWestland AW-109 delivered to
the Navy and Air Force.
Ten of the helicopters are armed and undergoing technical
inspection and assessment as of this posting along with six Bell
Aquino stressed that the military modernization will get
more impetus once the first two South Korean F/A-50 fighter jets, out of a 12
plane order, are delivered by December this year.
Aside from this, the Philippine Navy is now waiting the
arrival of two Australian-donated landing craft heavies which will join the
existing landing craft fleet.
Besides this, Aquino said that the country will also acquire
two modern frigates and close-air support aircraft to augment existing units.
Other items in the pipeline include modern rifles, and
grenade launchers.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=786708
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