Defense of the Republic of the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine government will proceed with a deal to purchase 17 military transport helicopters from Russia that was signed and partially paid for before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the defense chief said Wednesday.

The 12.7 billion-peso ($249 million) contract to acquire Mi-17 helicopters was signed in November and the Philippines made an initial payment in January, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.

“We do not see any likelihood of it being scrapped as of this moment,” he said.

Under the agreement, the first batch of the multipurpose helicopters is to be delivered by Russia’s Sovtechnoexport about 24 months after President Rodrigo Duterte’s six-year term ends in June. Asked if Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will affect the purchase, Lorenzana told reporters, “Only time will tell.”

The helicopters can be used for combat, search and rescue operations and medical evacuations, officials said.

...

Any latest updates regarding AH-1F Cobras Attack Helicopter?

An early December 2019 report from inside of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) reveals previously unreleased technical details of People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Russian-built Su-27s losing a majority of engagements in a November 2015 joint exercise with the 701 Fighter Squadron of the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF). This Thai unit operates eight Saab JAS-39C and four JAS-39D Gripens.

The engagements, known as Falcon Strike 2015, were the first of three such exercises and were detailed in a lecture given by one of the PLAAF’s most heavily decorated pilots, Senior Colonel Li Chunghua Hua (李中華), at the PRC’s Northwestern Polytechnical University (西北工业大学) in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province.

Li is described as one of the most experienced Sukhoi Su-27SK/J-11A pilots in the PLAAF with some 3,200 hours in fast jets, much of them in the Russian-made Sukhoi.  His revelations are unprecedented and are assessed by US intelligence as demonstrating a growing concern within the officer corps over deficiencies with the training regime for the PLAAF’s pilot cadre.

...