DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has issued the Notice of Award to a Polish aircraft manufacturer in connection with the procurement of 32 additional S-70i “Black Hawk” combat utility helicopters for P32 billion.
“Upon the instruction of the President, we are procuring additional 32 brand new S-70i Black Hawk helicopters,” Lorenzana said yesterday.
The Black Hawks will be acquired from PZL Mielec of Poland, the same firm that recently completed the delivery of 16 Black Hawks, under a P12 billion contract, to the Philippine Air Force.
“A Notice of Award was issued to PZL Mielec of Poland on 28 December 2021 for the project that comes with an Initial Logistics Support Package and Training for Pilots and Maintenance Crew amounting to P32 billion,” said Lorenzana.
“The Contract Agreement is now being drafted, after which I will issue a Notice to Proceed to officially commence the project,” Lorenzana said.
Lorenzana said the five of the 32 Black Hawks are due for delivery next year. The rest will be delivered in three batches — 10 in 2024; 10 in 2025 and seven in 2026.
Lorenzana said the lack of helicopters in the Armed Forces was evident in the ongoing COVID-19 response and the relief operations for victims of typhoon “Odette” that battered many areas last month.
“The lack of transport planes and helicopters have never been more acute during the pandemic and in the aftermath of typhoon Odette. This was exacerbated by our aging Hueys that have become uneconomical to maintain,” said Lorenzana.
“The 12 brand new Black Hawk bore the brunt of the work during these critical times,” said Lorenzana, referring to the Black Hawk helicopters already in the inventory of the Air Force.
Three UH-1H or Huey helicopters of the Air Force have been restored to operational status after almost a year of being sidelined, Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Maynard Mariano said.
All UH-1H and UH-1D helicopters of the Air Force were grounded in January last year after a UH-1D aircraft crashed during a resupply mission in Bukidnon, killing seven military personnel on board.
The UH-IDs, numbering 10, were subsequently decommissioned in October last year after authorities assessed they have already “served their purpose.”
“Recently, when there was a need for more choppers in December, we decided to subject them to inspection, testing, test flight. And they passed our parameters on safety so we recommended to the SND (secretary of national defense) in December to use them limited basis,” said Mariano.
Mariano said Lorenzana approved the recommendation, leading to the reactivation of the UH-1H. He said the UH-1H helicopters took off on December 28 and performed humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) for victims of Odette.
“PAF personnel and its air assets have been working round-the-clock in providing relief operations to areas affected by Typhoon Odette,” said Mariano.
Mariano said the Air Force is doing similar inspection and testing of several other UH-1H in their inventory so they can also be flown for limited mission like HADR and transport of COVID-19 vaccines, among others.
