The purchase of sixteen (16)
brand new Bell 412EPI helicopters would have been a great leap in the
capability of the Philippine Air Force in pursuit of its mandate.
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| A Bell-Fuji UH-1H Huey of the Japan Ground Self Defense Force (photo credited and taken from Airliners.net) |
Max Montero in his popular defense blog “MaxDefense Philippines” gave a
very “uplifting” scenario where the Philippines can still make do of short and
long term solution that was posed by the cancellation of the purchase of
helicopters form Canada.
He suggested that the Philippines can acquire surplus combat utility helicopters
from the Japanse government, as these kind of helicopters - Bell-Fuji UH-1H
Huey combat utility helicopters have been retired from military service for a
few years now.
For purposes of full understanding and clarity ,we have quoted in full the whole article written by Mr.
Montero for the convenience and knowledge of our reading public.
Philippine Air Force May Consider ex-JGSDF
UH-1H Hueys as Short Term Solution for CUH Project Delays.
With the Philippine Air Force
(PAF) not proceeding with the acquisition of more Bell 412EPIs combat utility
helicopters from Bell Helicopter Textron after the problems encountered with
the Canadian government, other options are being considered for short to long
term solutions.
Based on information MaxDefense received this past few days, as a short term solution, the PAF is actually considering the possibility of acquiring surplus Bell-Fuji UH-1H Huey combat utility helicopters from the Japanese government, as the type has been retired from the Japan Ground Self Defense Forces (JGSDF) for a few years now. It would be worth noting that the Philippines and Japan has agreed to transfer their stock of UH-1H parts to the Philippine Air Force in a separate agreement, and it would be expected to be easy to possibly approve a request to transfer surplus working airframes as well. *
Take note that this is still a proposal and not an actual project.
Based on information MaxDefense received this past few days, as a short term solution, the PAF is actually considering the possibility of acquiring surplus Bell-Fuji UH-1H Huey combat utility helicopters from the Japanese government, as the type has been retired from the Japan Ground Self Defense Forces (JGSDF) for a few years now. It would be worth noting that the Philippines and Japan has agreed to transfer their stock of UH-1H parts to the Philippine Air Force in a separate agreement, and it would be expected to be easy to possibly approve a request to transfer surplus working airframes as well. *
Take note that this is still a proposal and not an actual project.
According to a source from the PAF, these surplus Japanese Hueys are in even
better condition that those actively used by the Philippine Air Force. And even
if the PAF decides to only bring a few into service, it would definitely be a
big boost for the fleet as the PAF's Hueys and other utility helicopters are
dwindling in numbers despite the addition of 13 Bell-Dornier UH-1D Delta Hueys and
Super Delta Huey helicopters delivered by Rice Aviation Services Inc (RASI) a
few years ago (2 Deltas Huey helicopters crashed in separate incidents since then).
It was mentioned years ago that the PAF needs at least 100 readily available
CUHs, which means a fleet of at least 150 CUHs for the entire fleet.
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MaxDefense also received confirmation that at least 2 other options previously discussed in our earlier blog were requested to submit a formal offer to the Combat Utility Helicopter (CUH) Technical Working Group (TWG). One involve a brand-new offer from a larger helicopter company. Since we believe the formal offer is yet to be provided, MaxDefense will keep the information for now until it is clear and confirmed good for public consumption.
Until then, keep tab of this blog entry which we will also use should this plan become a reality.
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