ATTACK HELICOPTERS | Philippines gets long-delayed Turkish attack helicopters in September

May 25, 2021 , 05:11 PM

(May 25, 2021) – The Philippines will get the long-delayed Turkish attack helicopters in September, boosting the government’s internal security operations, a defense department spokesman said on Tuesday.

Director Arsenio Andolong, head of the defense department’s public affairs service, said the first two of six TAI-129 Tactical Reconnaissance and Attack Helicopter (ATAK) helicopters will be delivered by a Turkish supplier later this year.

Two more will be shipped next February while the rest will be delivered in February 2023.

“Definitely, it will be a big plus in our capability, especially in our counter-terrorism and internal security operations because it will bring more airborne firepower to our arsenal,” Andolong told reporters.

The attack helicopters were bought from Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in 2018 for $249.4 million or roughly P13 billion but the delivery was delayed after the United States imposed sanctions on Turkey for buying Russian missiles.

The attack helicopters were locally developed but the engines were imported from the United States which partnered with the United Kingdom’s RollsRoyce company.

Washington refused to sell CTS800 engines for the TAI-129 helicopters after Ankara acquired S-400 mobile surface-to-air missiles from Russia in 2017 amounting to $2.5 billion. It was seen as a risk to the whole alliance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Last year, two US-based suppliers offered to sell AH-64E Apache and AZ-1H Viper attack helicopters to the Philippines, costing about P100 billion as a replacement to the TAI-129.

The TAI-129 would replace the US-manufactured MD-520 attack helicopters which were acquired in the 1990s.

Last week, the US agreed to issue an export license for the CTS800 engines after it was convinced the sale does not need any congressional approval because the costs are below the $25-million threshold. Only the US State Department needs to approve the sale of the aircraft engine.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said 10 Black Hawk S-70i combat utility helicopters will also be delivered before the year ends, completing the deal the country entered in 2019 with the Polish aircraft manufacturer. The helicopters cost about $241 million in total.

Six Polish-made Sikorsky S070i Black Hawk helicopters were delivered to the country in November, improving the military’s capacity to conduct its combat mission, humanitarian work, as well as disaster response.

It would replace the Vietnam War vintage Bell UH-1H “Huey” helicopters.

(Beatrice Puente/MM)

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