MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is planning to
purchase a third warship and three naval helicopters to bolster its
maritime defense capabilities in a region increasingly wary of China's
looming presence.
The Philippines currently has one warship in its possession, the BRP Gregorio del Pilar. Another warship, the BRP Ramon Alcaraz, is expected to arrive in the country later this year.
Apart from a third warship, the Philippine Navy said it
was planning to purchase three "marinized" naval helicopters to
complement its available warships.
No definite date has been set, but Navy chief Vice Admiral
Alexander Pama told reporters Friday the plan is to buy these using
funds generated from the Energy department's Malampaya project.
Pama, in an interview with reporters at the Air Power
Symposium in Pasay City, said the three will eventually be attached to
the Hamilton-class cutters purchased from the United States.
"Our budget is set for three [helicopters] since domain
awareness calls for helicopters on board; that’s why in our program
there are three helicopters [for] three Hamilton Class [ships]. One is
to one," Pama explained.
At the moment, officials are busy preparing for the arrival of the second warship, BRP Alcaraz. A 90-man crew from the Navy has been in Charleston, South Carolina since April for training and repairing of the ship.
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brp del pilar and brp alcaraz are not warships,they are weaponless. they should be commissioned for the coastguard.this ships should be fitted with weapons like harpoon,sam,torpedos and sensors otherwise they would end up as practice shooting targets for the chinese.
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