6 US aircraft conduct first post-Balikatan 'flight out'

From GMA News (Apr 21): 6 US aircraft conduct first post-Balikatan 'flight out'

Six US military aircraft left behind from the recently concluded Balikatan exercises conducted their first "flight out" on Tuesday for a "maritime situational awareness operation," a statement from the US Embassy said Thursday.

The aircraft — four A-10C Thunderbolt IIs and two HH-60G Pave Hawks — flew "through international airspace to the west of Luzon," the embassy said.

"Missions such as this one promote transparency and safety of movement in international waters and airspace, and showcase the US commitment to ally and partner nations as well as to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region’s continued stability," it added.

The aircraft, which are based in Clark Air Base in Pampanga province, were part of the fleet that took part in the Balikatan exercises that ended on April 15.

The exercises are an annual training activity between the US and Philippine military under the Mutual Defense Treaty and Visiting Forces Agreement. This year, the event, which commenced on April 4, was participated in by 4,900 American and 3,700 Filipino soldiers.

The six aircraft are part of the  five  A-10 jet aircraft, three HH-60Gs Pave Hawk search and rescue helocopters and a MC-130H Combat Talon transport plane left behind by US to do training with their Filipino counterparts and to conduct patrol in the disputed areas in the South China Sea.

“Interoperability with the Philippine military is at the forefront of our mission,”  Col. Larry Card, Commander of the Air Contingent, said in the statement.

"The standup of the Air Contingent promotes this collective focus as we build upon our already strong andreaffirm our commitment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region," he added.

The embassy said the aircraft left behind will be conducting  varied operations such as air and maritime domain awareness, personnel recovery, combating piracy, and helping to assure that all nations have access to air and sea domains throughout the region in accordance with international law.

"All operations and deployments are planned and executed with the consent and cooperation of the Philippine government," it said.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/563552/news/nation/6-us-aircraft-conduct-first-post-balikatan-flight-out