PAF To Receive 2 More C-130T in 2019

4 October 2018

The Philippine Air Force (PAF) is expecting delivery of two more C-130T aircraft in 2019 according to the Defence Ministry.

Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenza said yesterday two more C-130 cargo planes from the United States valued more than US$ 61 million is scheduled to arrive by second half of next year to further improve the operational readiness of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) which currently has a fleet of five cargo planes.

Lorenzana disclosed that one of the C-130s will be exclusively used for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions.

The PAF already received the US$6.8 million (P340 million) Special Airborne Mission Installation and Response (SABIR) system kit for use on board one of the upcoming C-130T transport aircraft variant in July this year funded by the United States of America Southeast Asian Maritime Security Initiative (MSI), with a total price tag of US$15.1 million to include system installation and sustainment with the new platform together with the necessary crew training.

The Special Airborne Mission Installation and Response (SABIR) System, developed by the Airdyne Aerospace Inc, is a mounting system developed for the C-130.



It is mounted on the paratroop door on the C-130 Hercules with a roll-up door that includes a mount for sensors that retracts for takeoff and landing; a large bubble window and collapsible workstation for an observer/operator; and an equipment rack.

The system, which can be installed or uninstalled by 2 people, provides a 400 pound payload capacity and multi-mission payload pod using a standard BRU-12 interface. The maximum sensor length is eight feet.

The mount can take EO/IR sensor balls, small radars, SIGINT or electronic warfare equipment. When extended, it provides 360-degree coverage.

The SABIR system which is in use with the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), Air National Guard (ANG), and Marine Corps (USMC) is also provided to PAF with a carry-on operator console for mission equipment mounted in the payload pod.

Airdyne disclosed that it is incorporating PAF SABIR with L-3 Wescam's MX-15 HDi electro-optical imager and a variant of Elta Systems' X-band (8 to 12.5 GHz) EL/M-2022 synthetic aperture radar.

The new SABIR system has been funded by the US Southeast Asian Maritime Security Initiative (MSI), with the USD15.1 million SABIR package to include system installation, integration and sustainment together with the necessary crew training, while the new C-130T acquisition are funded under a separate Foreign Military Sale (FMS) subsidy.

The SABIR sytem provides the Philippines with advanced ISR capability as it increases the Philippine military's "maritime domain awareness, airborne command-and-control, counter-terrorism, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) capabilities".

Lorenzana said that while SABIR system is a “bolt-on”, “bolt-off” avionics module, removal and re-installation of this module is expensive prompting the DND to bolt permanently the module to one of the upcoming hercules.

In 2016, the US gave the Philippines over $127 million in military aid through equipment acquisitions, training and support services.