MANILA, (PNA) — Major Gen. Raul Dimatatac, Philippine Air Force (PAF) vice commander, announced Sunday that they are in need of additional Bell UH-1 “Huey” helicopters.
He made this statement after noting that only 21 out of the 79 “Huey” helicopters in the PAF are mission capable.
“(Of these) 33 are beyond economical repair while the other 25 are recoverable (waiting for repair) leaving us with only 21 operational,” Dimatatac stressed.
The PAF vice commander also said that originally, the 205th Tactical Helicopter Wing, should have a complement of 96 “Hueys” or four squadrons of helicopters.
Dimatatac said that a squadron is equivalent to 24 aircraft.
He added that the PAF is still waiting for the money to restore the 25 salvageable “Hueys” into flying and operational condition.
The PAF vice commander also stressed that the planned procurement of 21 refurbished Hueys is urgently needed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for its various security and disaster response roles.
However, the above-mentioned procurement program went on hold after the bidding for 21 “Hueys” failed again last Sept. 6 due to some documentary problems with the bidders.
The Department of National Defense (DND) failed to mention the reason for the failure of the first two bids earlier this year.
With the failure, the bid documents will be returned to the PAF and the military service will be directed to make a study and a recommendation on how to pursue the “Huey” acquisition program.
The project is worth P1.2 billion.