Philippine approves purchase of more S-70i Black Hawk helicopters.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the acquisition of 15 more Sikorsky Black Hawk multirole helicopters for the Philippine Air Force (PAF), Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles announced on February 4.

Follow Air Recognition on Google News at this link

S-70i Black Hawk  (Picture source: Polish MoD)

The S-70i Black Hawk is the international military version assembled by Sikorsky subsidiary, PZL Mielec in Poland. It can be configured according to customer specific missions, including troop transport and air assault, command and control, border patrol, search and rescue, cargo lift and VIP transport.

"For a country constantly beset by calamities and currently battling a pandemic, transport helicopters like the 'Black Hawks' are an absolutely necessary asset in our inventory that will allow the Armed Forces to respond efficiently and effectively to critical situations," Department of National Defense (DND) spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.

Nograles said Duterte has also ordered the decommissioning of all the PAF’s UH-1H Huey combat utility aircraft helicopters following the January 16 crash in Bukidnon.

The PAF received six modern S-70i Black Hawks late last year, which is part of the 16 units ordered from Polish company Polskie Zaklady Lotnicze Sp.z.o.o. and manufactured under license from Sikorsky USA.