Philippines confirms T/A-50 purchase

 

MICHAEL COHEN

JDW Correspondent

Manila

The Philippine Department of National Defense (DND) has chosen the Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) T/A-50 to fulfill the Philippine Air Force's (PAF's) requirement for a light attack Trainer.

Philippine officials said they would like to have two of 12 T/A-50s in country immediately to begin pilot training.

• The Philippines has announced the acquisition of 12 KAI T/A-50 light attack/ lead-in-fighter trainers in its first fast jet procurement in years

• Manila is also in negotiations to buy second-hand Italian Navy frigates and corvettes and utility/light attack helicopters from France and Italy

The government has requested the delivery of 12 aircraft from KAI, the DND said in an announcement on 1 August in Manila. It also announced that negotiations had almost finished for the purchase of two Maestrale-class frigates from the Italian Navy and released details of plans to procure four Eurocopter AS 550 Fennecs for the PAF, with an option for a further six.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the Philippines would request the immediate delivery of two T/A-50s to expedite training.

"We plan to negotiate so we can get the immediate delivery of two airframes to start the long-overdue process for training so that when the rest of the 10 arrive, our pilots get out there and start training,"Gazmin said.

The T/A-50 is an armed version of the T-50 Golden Eagle lead-in fighter trainer.It is equipped with a General Dynamics M197 20mm three-barrel Gatling-type internal cannon and an ELTA EL/M-2032 fire control radar, and has achieved weapons certification for the Raytheon AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground and AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.

The terms of the deal were not announced. However, Indonesia signed a contract for 16 T/A-50s in May 2011 valued at approximately USD400 million.

Gazmin said the Maestrale-class frigates to be retired by Italy will boost Manila's ability to defend its territorial waters, particularly the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea). The two Italian vessels, which would be the Philippines's first missile-armed and modern anti-submarine warfare (ASW)-capable ships, are expected to be part of the government-to-government agreement that is now being finalized. Gazmin said the frigates could arrive in the country after being refurbished in late 2013.

Officials are waiting for the enactment of the PHP75 billion (USD1.7 billion) Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) modernization law -  which has already been passed by both houses of Congress and is now awaiting specific stem selection, Which Gazmin said is expected by the end of 2012 - to continue negotiations with Italy. Along with the two frigates, which are worth PHP 11.7 billion, negotiations are under way for two Minerva- class corvettes or other offshore patrol craft, which the Italians are also offering to Manila.

Employees work on a TA-50 trainer jet on the production line of the Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. plant in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province. (Bloomberg)

IHS Jane's has also learnt that the Philippine Navy is evaluating Oto Melara's advanced 76mm smart munitions, such as the DART (Driven Ammunition Reduced Time of Flight) guided projectile, for its fleet of former UK Royal Navy Peacock-class patrol vessels and its ex-US Coast Guard Hamilton-class cutter.

DND spokesman and Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Galvez said that due to availability issues with the preferred option - the AW109E Power Attack Helicopter - Manila had chosen to procure four AS 550 Fennecs this year. The Fennecs are reportedly part of a cancelled or reduced order from an unspecified Middle Eastern Country that IHS Jane's believes could be Libya. In 2007 Paris said it was in negotiations to sell 10 Fennecs to Tripoli as part of a EUR4 billion (USD4.8 billion) package that also included 14 Dassault Rafale multirole fighters, eight Eurocopter Tiger combat helicopters and 15 EC 725 transport helicopters.

Galvez said the Fennecs were needed urgently to provide air cover for Philippine forces conducting counter-terrorism and insurgency operations while the PAF's McDonnell Douglas MD530 Defender light attack helicopters are upgraded under a service-life extension programme (SLEP).

The commander of the PAF said the AW109s would be procured at a later date and would be operated by the Philippine Marines/Navy.

Gazmin said that 60 per cent of 140 contracts negotiated under the AFP's recapitalization programme have been agreed, with the rest dependent on the enactment of the AFP modernization law. According to the spokesman, by the end of 2012 Manila also expects the delivery of 21 refurbished UH-1H helicopters, "two to four"attack helicopters and two multipurpose assault craft.

A version of this article appeared August 8, 2012, on page 4 in the U.K. edition of IHS Jane's Defense Weekly, with the headline: Philippines confirms T/A-50 purchase.

French aircraft manufacturer enters PI

Eurocopter, Dassault jet store opens

By Recto Mercene

May 24, 2012

THE Philippine economy must be performing well, gauging by the decision of Eurocopter Philippines and France’s Dassault Falcon to jointly sell the seven-seater helicopter and the eight-seater Falcon jet as complimentary package for the country’s top 500 corporations, including chairmen and chief executive officers of multinational companies and conglomerates.
 

There is a family of Falcons to choose from—six distinct aircraft to suit the company’s budget—while the helicopter needs no further introduction, having been introduced in the Philippine market since 1970.

Jussi Hoikka, commercial director of Eurocopter Philippines, said the company has locally sold 60 Eurocopters, at $3 million to $3.2 million per unit, representing a 60-percent share of the market.

Its most exclusive feature is the Fenestron tail rotor, which is enclosed and not exposed like most helicopters. This prevents personnel or passengers from being cut accidentally when the rotor is turning.

The Eurocopter T3 is also equipped with an “active vibration control system,” vibrations being a natural curse of all helicopters owing to its design. This helicopter, however, senses the vibrations and a damper removes this bone rattling sensation, lessening the noise to give passengers comfortable ride, devoid of nausea.

The Falcon costs $30 million, excluding the 12-percent to 25-percent tax. So far, only one has been sold locally, compared to the 25 percent to 30 percent that Chinese billionaires had gobbled up so far.

However, as Hoikka pointed out, they aim to sell about six to 10 Falcons for the next two years, and in five years, be the leading executive jet supplier in the country.

He said a busy executive can jet to any point in the Philippines, and still afford to make it on time to any remote locations by hopping to a waiting Eurocopter, which would be the favorite chariot of choice by mining executives, oil and gas barons and politicians hot on campaign trails.

The helicopter can be also be used for emergency medical evacuation and to enter the remotest jungle or reach any isolated islands.

Eurocopter Philippines has a 95-percent Filipino staff, mostly industry professionals, serving customers that include the Coast Guard, the Navy, the National Police, charter operators, corporate operators and other private owners.

The Falcon 2000LX, the latest in the lineup, has enough headroom for tall persons, and offers 5-percent additional range, which would be 4,500 nautical miles, over the 2000EX EASy model.

It can land and takeoff on 1,500 meters of runway.

At the cockpit, cutting-edge technology includes two onboard computers, a fully digitalized cockpit, a trackball like in a computer game, where the pilot places the cursor in on a map, and pinpoints the runway locations anywhere in the world. The map could be enlarged to see the airport’s layout and all information needed for navigation.

Instantly, the pilot is provided with any particular runway’s length, configuration, navigational aids, frequencies to tune in and all related data.

Not many airplanes, even commercial ones, have this computerized cockpit.

Capt. Frederick Lascourreges, the check-pilot, shows how, by the turn of the trackball, he can avail of any information at his fingertips, having done away with the “Flying Kit Bag” a bulky black leather bag that used to contain all the maps and the pilot’s survival kit.