In an ongoing
effort to upgrade its military, the Philippines has bought three AW109
maritime helicopters for its navy. Britain's last helicopter
manufacturer (Agusta Westland, a division of Italian firm Finmeccanica)
builds the AW109, which is a three ton aircraft with a max speed of 285
kilometers an hour and endurance of about three hours. It can carry up
to seven passengers. It can be armed with a machine-gun and up to eight
TOW type missiles. Each AW109 will cost about $11 million and they will
be delivered within two years.
The AW109s will be used mostly for reconnaissance as well as
search and rescue. Nearly 600 AW109s are used by fifty countries. The
Philippines is buying new equipment in small batches because it is
basically broke. But growing Chinese intrusions into Filipino offshore
areas has generated sufficient fear to force the Philippines to scrounge
up cash for this emergency.
I would need to correct the statement that the country (Philippines) is basically broke - our recent economic success belie that lie.
ReplyDeleteThe modernization is being funded by the proceeds from our natural gas exports