The Philippine Air Force (PAF) is expected to acquire more air assets and equipment in the coming months, the commanding general said on Tuesday.
In his speech during the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the PAF, Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Rozzano Briguez said that these planes must various PAF operations.
In the line-up for the PAF is another Lockheed C-130 “Hercules” transport aircraft which is expected in the last quarter of this year and 16 combat helicopters and six additional NC212i aircraft which will begin to arrive in 2020.
In addition to these air mobility assets, the PAF chief reported that six new Embraer A-29 “Super Tucanos” are due to arrive in February 2020 and “will be a revolutionary platform that will the surface strike to ground troops”.
The “Super Tucanos” are expected to reinforce the North American Rockwell OV-10 “Bronco” attack aircraft that are being used by the PAF in strike missions.
The PAF's strategic and operational command and control will also be expanded with the arrival of "two fixed-wing command and control aircraft" that include an EADS CASA C-295 medium transport that will arrive in July this year and a twin-engine Gulfstream G-280. jet that will be delivered next year, said Briguez.
“Likewise, four unmanned aerial systems will come this year to intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance for operational and strategic functions,” he added.
The head of the PAF said they will also finalize their Integrated Command and Control, Communications and Computing System (IC4S), which will further enhance their capability in air operations.
“With this, we will achieve a robust, high-performance, fully interoperable and integrated communications technology infrastructure that will provide all elements of the DND-AFP (Department of National Defense of the Armed Forces of the Philippines) intelligence requirement and an operational framework common, " he added.
Briguez thanked President Rodrigo R. Duterte for his “colossal and unprecedented for the AFP”, which includes the ongoing modernization program, significant salary increases for all soldiers, including pay for frontline soldiers in Sulu, along with additional weapons.
These initiatives by the Command-in-Chief made the troops more secure, confident and focused on conducting operations, he added.
“We also greatly appreciate the from our Air Force counterparts overseas such as Japan, especially for the UH-1H spare parts they have given us. Our partners from ASEAN, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and also from South Korea, China, the United States, Russia, Australia and other countries we have been working closely with,” said the head of the PAF. (NAP)
Source: Philippine News Agency
