Lorenzana to lead acceptance, christening of 6 Black Hawk helicopters for Air Force

From the Business Mirror (Dec 8, 2020): Lorenzana to lead acceptance, christening of 6 Black Hawk helicopters for Air Force (By Rene Acosta)

One of the six Black Hawk helicopters at a Philippine Air Force hangar.

Philippine Air Force (PAF) officials will formally accept and christen into service on Thursday six of the 16 Sikorsky S70i Black Hawk helicopters that it has acquired under the military’s capability upgrade program.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who is the event’s guest of honor, will lead other defense officials and the military’s top brass in witnessing the acceptance and blessing of the helicopters by the PAF at the Clark Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga.

This is the third of the big ticket items that the PAF has so far received under the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program after it has already acquired a squadron of brand-new FA-50 fighter jets from South Korea.

PAF has also procured Super Tucano attack planes from Brazil.

Five of the Black Hawk helicopters, ordered and procured from Poland in a government-to-government contract arrived in the country last month aboard an Antonov plane while another one arrived weeks later aboard a ship, as earlier disclosed by Lorenzana.

The remaining 10 units are expected to be delivered within the first quarter of next year.

The 16 Black Hawks, with a contract price of $241,461,699.39, were built by Polish firm Polskie Zaklady Lotnicze Sp.z.o.o.

The defense department, through its spokesman Arsenio “Popong” Andolong, said earlier that the helicopters will greatly boost the Armed Forces of the Philippines’s capability to conduct various operations, including combat missions, humanitarian assistance and disaster response and help in the government’s efforts against Covid-19.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/12/08/lorenzana-to-lead-acceptance-christening-of-6-black-hawk-helicopters-for-air-force/