The Philippine Air Force's (PAF) fifth Lockheed C-130
'Hercules' cargo aircraft, acquired from US stocks and formally turned over to
the 220th Airlift Wing Monday, is a perfect example of American and Filipino
military partnership, outgoing US
"This aircraft is a perfect example of how and why our
partnership works through procurement or co-investment, the pooling of our
assets, our money, our time, our talent. That's what partnership is all
about," Goldberg said during the aircraft's blessing ceremony at the
Villamor Air Base in Pasay
City
"With this new addition to your fleet, I know the PAF
will be even more prepared when called upon to deliver tremendous assistance in
case disaster strikes," the US
Goldberg expressed hope that this kind of cooperation
between the US and the Philippines
"We hope to continue to build upon this kind of
cooperation, upon our hard work together over many, many decades and the
success of our partnership that has (been) realized in the past to face up to
the common challenges that will rise in the future," he said.
He noted that due to their 70-year alliance, the Philippines ' and the US
"We are partners, we are friends, we are allies, we
work closely on issues common to both our national security interests,
including maritime security terrorism and transnational crime, as well as to
respond to all manners of crisis, including those that endanger public health
and safety. We intend to maintain focus on this relationship," he added.
The C-130, with tail number 5040, is the second T-model
acquired from the US Excess Defense Article Program aimed at beefing up the
PAF's humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities.
The second aircraft arrived at the Benito Ebuen Air Base in
Mactan, Cebu at 7:56 p.m. last October 9.
The C-130 aircraft took off from Guam's Andersen Air Base at
2:50 p.m. on the same day for the final leg of its flight to the Philippines
PAF spokesperson Col. Antonio Francisco said the pilots who
flew the C-130 back to the Philippines were Lt. Col. Joey Inacay, mission
commander; Lt. Col. Jason Rom Lacida, aircraft commander; Maj. Anthony Amora,
test pilot and pilot-in-command; Maj. Meritto Jay Quijano, pilot-in-command;
and Maj. Marjorie Mukay, pilot-in-command and Maj. Ronel Salas, pilot.
The PAF spokesperson also noted that Mukay is the first
female to be certified as a pilot-in-command of a C-130.
The PAF’s fifth C-130 took off from Tucson , Arizona
The Air Force’s fifth C-130, as well as the fourth, belong
to the "T" model of the class and originally configured as an
airborne tanker.
The fourth C-130 arrived at the Benito Ebuen Air Base in
Mactan, Cebu last April 5.
It was flown by Filipino pilots headed by Col. Alejando
Baclayon, Lt. Col. Ian Earth Lamzon, Maj. Ian Dexter Danes, Maj. Anthony Amora,
and Maj. Ramil Daet.
The two C-130Ts are worth USD61 million and were acquired
through the US Excess Defense Article Program.
Francisco said the additional C-130s will boost the PAF's
transport and logistic capabilities.
Aside from the C-130s, the PAF has three Airbus Military
C-295 medium and three Fokker F-27 transports for its logistics and lift
missions.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=934072
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.