AFP
ACQUIRES 20 UH-1H HELICOPTERS
The
AFP Vice Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Ariston V Delos
Reyes formally received from Mr Ho Yuen Sang, Deputy
President & COO of Singapore Technologies Aerospace,
the latest additions to the air assets of the AFP,
three refurbished UH-1H helicopters during a turnover
ceremony held at the GHQ, AFP Grandstand, Camp Aguinaldo,
Quezon City on August 25, 2004. The acquisition of
these three choppers is part of the 20 Refurbished
UH-1H Helicopters Acquisition Project under the AFP
Modernization Program. This is over and above the
acquisition of 10 more UH-1H through US Excess Defense
Article (EDA) but funded under the AFP Modernization
Program.
The UH-1H is a versatile
utility helicopter that can be used for medical evacuation,
command and control, air assault, and transportation
for men and materiel. It is the most effective type
of aircraft for Internal Security Operations. Fitted
with an M-60 machine guns, it can penetrate combat
areas and provide heli-lift to the troops no other
aircraft in the Philippine Air Force inventory can.
During peacetime, it can be also used extensively
for other missions, which include search and rescue
operations. The refurbished UH-1H is now equipped
with night flying instruments and accessories for
special night flying missions and sorties of the Philippine
Air Force.
The contract for this project was initiated mid last
year between the AFP and ST Aerospace Engineering
Pte, Ltd, when the latter won the bid for this Php
659,800,000.00 project. ST Aerospace Engineering Pte
Ltd with close to three decades of aircraft maintenance
and engineering experience is one of the largest and
most recognized depot facilities in the Asia-Pacific
region today. With a team of highly skilled specialists,
ST Aerospace Engineering has developed an international
reputation for high quality and reliable services.
The turnover rites in
Camp Aguinaldo was witnessed by Congressman Roilo
S Golez, Chairman, House Committee on National Defense,
who is the occasion’s guest of honor and speaker.
The delivery of these refurbished helicopters is another
milestone in the history of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines in its effort to continuously build and
upgrade its capability as part of the AFP Modernization
Program.
The ceremony is the
culmination of the fifth modernization project of
the AFP. It can be recalled that last March 2003,
a total of 402 Squad Automatic Weapons (SAW) were
delivered to the Philippine Army and the Philippine
Marines. The second major breakthrough of the AFP
Modernization Program took place on 03 February 2004
at the GHQ Grandstand where the Armored Recovery Vehicle
(ARV) was formally turned over by FNSS of Turkey to
the AFP Chief of Staff. On 03 June 2004, the Chief
of Staff in behalf of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
received from Harris Corporation, 324 units of High
Frequency Single-Side-Band Manpack Transceivers. Barely
three weeks after, two leading distributors and suppliers
of dental equipment and supplies in the country, delivered
50 units of various state of the art dental equipment
to the AFP. The AFP has seven other projects whose
contracts have been approved and is just a matter
of time before its personnel can actually see them
on the ground.
