The Philippine Air Force has acquired a pair of ATR 72 aircraft adapted for military use. The planes will be delivered in mid-2025 after being converted for maritime patrol missions in Israel.
The purchase was confirmed on the portal Inquirer by the Israeli ambassador to the Philippines, Ilan Fluss. Manila signed a US$114 million contract (R$623.6 million at current prices) with Israel's Elbit Systems. The defense company will adapt regional air transport turboprops to carry out patrol and surveillance activities at sea. The adapted ATR outperformed the Airbus C295MPA.
During the conversion to Long-Range Patrol Aircraft (LRPA), Elbit will install sets of mission management systems, radars, electro-optical sensors, equipment for safe communication and navigation, signals intelligence suites (SIGINT) and others . As noted by the magazine Scramble, it was not specified whether anti-submarine warfare equipment is part of the agreement.
Developed in the late 1980s by and Italy, the ATR 72 has the capacity to carry 78 engers, and is much more frequently seen in commercial aviation. Militarily, it is operated in Italy, Turkey and Pakistan, in conversions offered by Elbit and the Italian group Leonardo.
The model has received a lot of media attention after an accident in the interior of São Paulo. An ATR 72-500 (PS-VPB) from VOE fell in the backyard of a house in Vinhedos on Friday (09), killing 62 people.
