PAF Receives New Assets

20 September 2020

The Philippine Air Force (PAF) will receive delivery today of new Gulfstream G280 (RP-1251) Presidential jet from the United States and six A-29B Super Tucano attack aircraft from Brazil.

The PAF signed a foreign military sales contract with the US government to purchase the G280 jet including parts, tooling, and logistics support, for $36,999,916, (P1.9 billion) from Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation in October 2019. 

The new jet is intended to replace and retire the Fokker F28 jet used for VIP Transport. It will also be used for command and control, the G280 can also be used in airborne early warning, medical evacuation, high-altitude atmospheric research, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions according to DND.

The G280 has a maximum range of 3,600 nautical miles/6,667 kilometers at its long-range cruise speed of Mach 0.80 and a high-speed cruise of Mach 0.84. The aircraft can fly eight hours nonstop, according to Gulfstream.

Meanwhile, the six close-air support aircraft is intended to beef up the Philippine Air Force (PAF)'s close-air support capability for light attack, surveillance, air-to-air interception, and counterinsurgency missions. It was ordered in 2017 with a price tag of 4.968 billion pesos, intended to replace the ageing North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco fleet and SF-260 attack planes. Super Tucanos will be part of the 15th Strike Wing.

Department of National Defense (DND) spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said the six initial aircraft have all landed in Clark Air Base this morning from the company airfield in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and made fueling stops in the Canary Islands, Portugal, Malta, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Vietnam before landing in the Philippines in batches of two flown by Embraer company pilots.

Andolong said Embraer pilots will train PAF pilots selected to fly the "Super Tucano" in Clark for two months as part of the agreement under the Technical Inspection and Acceptance Committee.

In addition, another batch of 16 S-70i Blackhawk Helicopters are also under way for delivery to the country to meet the PAF’s separate ‘combat utility helicopter’(CUH) programme. The first six helicopter will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2020, with remainder scheduled for 2021. The helicopters are being manufactured at PZL Mielec, Sikorsky’s company in Poland.