- December 11, 2020, 12:37 PM
The first six S-70i Black Hawks were officially blessed and handed over to the PAF during a ceremony at Clark Air Base on December 10. (Photo: Philippines Department of National Defense)
The Philippines formally commissioned its first six Sikorsky/PZL S-70i Black Hawks into the Philippines Air Force s 205th Tactical Helicopter Wing on December 10. Now the nation is pondering the acquisition of a second batch for the PAF.
The country signed a $241 million contract for the first batch of 16 S-70is in March 2019 after a deal with Canada to procure a similar number of Bell 412s fell through in February 2018. Although Canada had delivered eight Bell 412s in 2015, Ottawa had subsequently questioned the Philippines’ plans to use the helicopters for “internal security operations.”