Defense agreement signed with Czechs

From Malay Business Insight (Jun 1): Defense agreement signed with Czechs

THE Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday said a defense cooperation agreement was recently signed by the country with the Czech Republic to cover the procurement of equipment, defense logistics and military training and education among others.

DFA spokesman Robespierre Bolivar said the bilateral agreement was signed last May 29 at the Ministry of Defense in Prague by Defense Undersecretary Ricardo David Jr. and Czech Deputy Minister Jakub Landovsky, the head of Defense Policy and Strategy Division of the Czech Ministry of Defense.

Aside from military equipment and logistics, the agreement also covers cooperation in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, compliance with international treaties of defense, security and arms control, personnel management and defense and security policy.

The Czech Republic manufactures armored vehicles, artillery, sniper and automatic rifles as well as attack aircraft.

A Czech-made aircraft, the L-39 developed by Aero Vodochody, is one of three contenders under the Philippine Air Force program to acquire six close air support aircraft.

Manila had earlier signed a defense cooperation agreement with Moscow that will pave the way for the procurement of military hardware from Russia, Philippine Ambassador to Russia Carlos Sorreta said.

Sorreta said the agreement will also expand training exchanges between the two countries’ military forces.

Among the equipment that the country is looking to acquire from Russia includes unmanned aerial vehicles, sniper rifles, precision guided munitions and combat aircraft.

Being a treaty ally of the United States, the Philippine military has long relied on American made equipment to fulfill its defense needs.

The AFP’s recent acquisition of military equipment under its modernization program are from Israel (upgraded M-113 armored personnel carriers), South Korea (FA50 aircraft), US (R-4 automatic rifles, Coast Guard cutters, armored personnel carriers, Harris tactical radios, radars for the Coast Watch System, C-130T cargo aircraft), Canada (Bell 412 combat utility helicopters), Spain (C295 transport plane), and Poland (Sokol helicopters), among others.

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