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Philippines to Procure 23 Attack Helicopters in 2018

Philippines to Procure 23 Attack Helicopters in 2018
T129 Atak © Youtube

In a speech, the Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte outlined his government’s intention to procure 23 new attack helicopters to bolster Manilla’s counterinsurgency (COIN) capabilities.

Duterte announced that he “will ask military officials to go to different places to negotiate [for the attack helicopters] immediately.” If there are fiscal gaps, Manilla will consider a soft-loan.

In terms of new armament acquisitions, many of the Philippines’ purchases have thus far come from South Korea. Since 2014, Manilla has ordered Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) FA-50 Golden Eagle lightweight fighters and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) frigates. The Duterte government has articulated a policy of maintaining diverse defence suppliers, which could possibly include vendors from China and Russia.

However, Manilla will have to approach other sellers for attack helicopters, which may open opportunities for China, Russia, India and Turkey. In fact, earlier in November, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) made a concerted push to market the T129 ATAK attack helicopter along with the Anka unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and Hürkuş-C COIN aircraft to the Southeast Asian market. TAI General Manager Temel Kotil said that the company had engaged with regional officials, including those from the Philippines.

T129 ATAK | Military Edge
T129 ATAK | Military Edge

 

It should be noted that the T129 is powered by the same turboshaft engine platform – i.e. LHTEC CTS800 – as the AW159 Wildcat anti-submarine warfare helicopter, which Manilla has on order from Leonardo. This presents the Philippines with the space to streamline its aircraft maintenance infrastructure.

The AW-159 Wildcat | MaxDefence Philippines
The AW-159 Wildcat | MaxDefence Philippines

 

On the other hand, the relative dearth of prospective suppliers of tested attack helicopters could enable China to push for its Z-10 and/or Z-19 platforms. The Z-10 and Z-19 benefit from considerable domestic scale in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), thus scaling the development overhead that had gone into these aircraft, reducing unit costs and assuring continued development. Moreover, Beijing is in a position to back its defence hardware with credit or financing programs.

Source : Quwa.org

Akhyari Hananto

I began my career in the banking industry in 1997, and stayed approx 6 years in it. This industry boost his knowledge about the economic condition in Indonesia, both macro and micro, and how to More understand it. My banking career continued in Yogyakarta when I joined in a program funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB),as the coordinator for a program aimed to help improve the quality of learning and teaching process in private universities in Yogyakarta. When the earthquake stroke Yogyakarta, I chose to join an international NGO working in the area of ?disaster response and management, which allows me to help rebuild the city, as well as other disaster-stricken area in Indonesia. I went on to become the coordinator for emergency response in the Asia Pacific region. Then I was assigned for 1 year in Cambodia, as a country coordinator mostly to deliver developmental programs (water and sanitation, education, livelihood). In 2009, he continued his career as a protocol and HR officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Surabaya, and two years later I joined the Political and Economic Section until now, where i have to deal with extensive range of people and government officials, as well as private and government institution troughout eastern Indonesia. I am the founder and Editor-in-Chief in Good News From Indonesia (GNFI), a growing and influential social media movement, and was selected as one of The Most Influential Netizen 2011 by The Marketeers magazine. I also wrote a book on "Fundamentals of Disaster Management in 2007"?, "Good News From Indonesia : Beragam Prestasi Anak Bangsa di dunia"? which was luanched in August 2013, and "Indonesia Bersyukur"? which is launched in Sept 2013. In 2014, 3 books were released in which i was one of the writer; "Indonesia Pelangi Dunia"?, "Indonesia The Untold Stories"? and "Growing! Meretas Jalan Kejayaan" I give lectures to students in lectures nationwide, sharing on full range of issues, from economy, to diplomacy Less
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