Andrew Doyle/SINGAPORE
The Philippine air force (PAF) has signed a deal to acquire four Lockheed Martin C-130K Hercules which are being traded back to the manufacturer by the UK Royal Air Force as part of the latter's C-130J buy.
As part of the agreement Lockheed will part-fund a $50 million military aircraft maintenance centre being set up by local Philippine company Asian Aerospace, to overhaul C-130s already in the PAF fleet. The work, due to begin in August, will be performed at Clark International Airport in the special economic zone created following the US Air Force's departure from the base.
"We have signed up for a hangar already," says Asian Aerospace president and chief executive Peter Rodriguez. "Phase two will see us open a bigger facility, also at Clark," he adds.
Lockheed Martin's investment in the project comes as the US company eyes longer-term Philippine requirements for new ground radar and a possible, long-awaited upgrade of Northrop Grumman F-5 fighters.
Two of the C-130Ks will be equipped with "roll-on, roll-off" Lockheed-supplied "interim long-range patrol" surveillance systems allowing the aircraft to used for missions such as coastal patrol, search and rescue, humanitarian work and emergency evacuation.
The PAF currently sends its C-130s to Airod in Malaysia for overhaul, but would prefer to have the work done domestically, say industry sources. It has eight C-130Bs and four C-130Hs, though only half are airworthy due to a lack of maintenance funds.
The Philippines is also looking at acquiring an additional C-130 from the US military and a deal could be concluded later this year, say the sources.
Asian Aerospace specialises in selling, upgrading and maintaining a variety of helicopter types for military and commercial operators. It is also a distributor for MD Helicopters and Lockheed Martin, and is a registered repair station for Bell helicopters.
Source: Flight International
