In what is being termed as the nation’s latest big-ticket purchase, the Philippines will buy 32 new Black Hawk helicopters for more than $620 million. The move comes in an attempt to upgrade its military capability.
Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzan said that the first of the 32 S-70i Black Hawks will begin to arrive next year. It will come from a Polish firm owned by US defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin. “The lack of transport planes and helicopters have never been more acute during the pandemic and in the aftermath of Typhoon Odette,” he said.
Typhoon Odette is the local name of Typhoon Rai. “This was exacerbated by our ageing Hueys that have become uneconomical to maintain,” he added.
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Typhoon Rai was a super typhoon that killed over 400 people and caused large scale devastation.
Hundreds of thousands fled their homes and beachfront resorts as Typhoon Rai ravaged the southern and central regions of the archipelago, knocking out communications and electricity in many areas, ripping off roofs and toppling concrete power poles.
Earlier last year, the government completed an order of 16 S-70i Black Hawks. This was done to replace the air force’s fleet of Bell UH-1H helicopters after fatal accidents. The entire Black Hawk fleet was grounded in June following a crash during a night-time training flight.
An investigation found it “inadvertently entered a thunderstorm” and the pilot suffered “spatial disorientation or vertigo”.
(With inputs from agencies)
