Philippines signs deal to buy four combat choppers from Canada
by The Canadian Press
Deal with Canadian Commercial Corp. for four Bell 412 helicopters worth US$106.8-million
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines signed contracts worth US$527-million to buy 12 fighter jets from South Korea and four combat utility helicopters from Canada to boost the capability of its air force, one of the weakest in Southeast Asia.
Armed forces chief of staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista signed a contract with Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. for 12 FA-50 fighters worth US$420.4-million and another with Canadian Commercial Corp. for four Bell 412 combat utility helicopters worth US$106.8-million.
Deliveries will start next year.
The fighter jets contract is the biggest deal so far signed under the military’s long-delayed modernization program.
The signings come amid tensions with China in the South China Sea.
“With the eventual delivery and acquisition of these new air assets, our air force can already forget the lingering naughty joke that it is all air without force,” said Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, who witnessed the signings.
The FA-50s serve as jet trainers, lead-in fighters and multipurpose fighters, according to Korea Aerospace Industries’ president and chief executive officer, Ha Sung Yong.
Air Force spokesman Col. Miguel Ernesto Okol said the acquisition of the fighter planes “would signal the start of our territorial defence initiatives” and “brings us closer to what we plan to achieve, which is credible defence capability.”
The air force has had no fighter aircraft in its inventory since 2005, when a fleet of F-5 jets was decommissioned.
