Sunday, March 27, 2016

Air Force to stockpile P69M chopper parts

From Manila Business Insght (Mar 28): Air Force to stockpile P69M chopper parts

THE Philippine Air Force is buying P68.92 million worth of spare parts for its eight multi-purpose helicopters which were acquired from Augusta Westland of Italy as part of the military’s modernization program.

Air Force spokesman Col. Enrico Canaya said the acquisition of the spares does not mean that the AW-109 choppers, which were delivered last year, are facing problems.

He said the aircraft “are in good condition.”

“We do the procurement as programmed. This is to make sure that our assets are in top condition, in good shape,” said Canaya. “These (spares) are for future use. It takes a long time to process procurement so we do advance programming.”

The acquisition of spare parts is divided into two lots – one worth P37.50 million and the other P31.42 million. A pre-bid conference was held in Villamor Air Base in Pasay City last March 14 and the opening of bids will be on Thursday.

The helicopters were acquired from Agusta Westland for P3.44 billion under the military’s modernization program. Two of the aircraft were delivered in August last year while the six others were delivered in December, also last year.

The Air Force is using the AW-109s as “attack helicopter aircraft,” complementing the MG-520 choppers in the inventory of the 15th Strike Wing.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/business-news/news/air-force-stockpile-p69m-chopper-parts

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