MANILA – As part of its efforts to reinforce its helicopter fleet, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) is considering the possibility of obtaining heavy-lift choppers.
“There is a project for heavy (lift) helis (helicopters) but this is still being worked out by the TWGs (technical working groups),” PAF spokesperson Lt. Col. Maynard Mariano said.
However, Mariano refused to provide any additional information.
“I cannot identify the helicopters that are being looked into, again, it is still with the TWG for their assessment,” Mariano said.
A heavy-lift helicopter is a type of rotary aircraft that can transport a large number of people or cargo.
According to previous reports, one of the heavy-lift helicopters under consideration is the twin-engine Boeing CH-47 “Chinook”.
The CH-47 is one of the Western-made helicopters with a high lifting capacity. It can transport up to 24,000 pounds of cargo and personnel.
During a brief ceremony at the Clark Air Base in Pampanga on October 13, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana formally accepted five S-70i “Black Hawk” combat utility helicopters.
These additional assets are “crucial in keeping our communities and people safe from traditional security threats and disasters,” according to Lorenzana.
The PAF has an order of 16 S-70i helicopters from Polish company Polskie Zaklady Lotnicze Sp.z.o.o. worth USD241 million (about PHP11.5 billion).
The first six were delivered in November 2020, followed by a second batch of five in June of this year. Last June 24, one of the six initial units handed to the country crashed during a night-flying exercise.
The S-70i helicopters blessed last Wednesday were part of the second batch of five delivered in June. The third and final batch is expected by the end of the year.
