latest news...Govt puts back the ‘force’ in PAF ;
Govt puts back the ‘force’ in PAF | Manila Standard Today
Finally , the Force is back in the Philippine Air Force with the military branch taking delivery of four brand-new combat utility helicopters from Poland.
“The lack of equipment has always been our handicap but despite that we never put our guards down and instead focused on our strength, the talent of our people,” said Air Force chief Lauro Catalino dela Cruz. “Sometimes the joke hurts that we only have Air but no Force, but now this will be a thing of the past; we can see a horizon of better times,” dela Cruz said after taking delivery of the Falcon helicopters, the first batch of eight units made by PZL-Swidnik under a P3.2 billion contract with the Aquino administration.
The 12-seater aircraft will be used for combat support and rescue-relief missions, while beefing up the country’s air assets amid the growing tensions in the West Philippine Sea, dela Cruz said. Four more of the Polish helicopters are scheduled for November delivery.
The military also intends to purchase fighter jets, warships and maybe, a new submarine, using a P70-billion budget under its modernization program. The military arms buildup was conceived during the Arroyo administration but President Aquino ensured that it got the P70 — billion fund, a military source said.
The new purchases will wean the Air Force from dependence on the aging Hueys which had earned the monicker “flying coffins” or “widow-makers” because they are crash-prone, dela Cruz said.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, for his part, said that the Polish deal showed the Aquino administration was making good on its plan to upgrade the military’s war materiel and protect its territory.
“The placement of these aircraft in our Air Force inventory shall surely boost its development of mission essential capabilities, mobility, firepower and accuracy, communications, survivability and the ability to detect threat elements,” he said.
By July this year, more modernization projects will be carried out by the Executive department, Gazmin said.
any news like this lifts up the spirits,,,anything good for the country is certainly good news..that means,,stop all the
politicking and move on...