Five S70i Black Hawk helicopters comprising the last batch of the Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) procurement of these air assets have arrived in the country on Monday.
The arrival of the Polish-made helicopters under license from Black Hawk’s original US manufacturer completed PAF’s acquisition of 16 units of such choppers.
PAF spokesman Lt. Col. Maynard Mariano said the latest delivery of Black Hawks arrived at Clark Air Base in Pampanga aboard an Antonov plane from Poland.
“The Black Hawk helicopters will boost the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ capability to conduct various operations, including humanitarian assistance and disaster response missions,” Mariano said.
The first batch of Black Hawks consisting of six units arrived in the country in November last year, while the second batch made up of five units arrived in June this year and officially entered the PAF’s service last month.
In June, one of helicopters from the maiden delivery crashed in Tarlac while on a night flight proficiency training, killing all of its crewmen whose bodies were retrieved days after the mishap.
PAF has not released the results of its investigation into the crash, which happened in the vicinity of Crow Valley target range in Tarlac.
The ill-fated aircraft was attached to the 205thHelicopter Wing based in Pampanga.