According to MaxDefense Philippines, it received information that the Philippine Air Force (PAF) is not in favor of the South Korean KUH-1 Surion for their Combat Utility Helicopter acquisition project.
“Apparently the PAF TWG and Senior Leaders are NOT IN FAVOR of acquiring the Korean made KUH-1 Surion despite the juicy offer they made recently, which is for PAF to acquire 10 brand new Surions for the Php12.1 billion budget allocated for the project,” MaxDefense said.
According to MaxDefense, the Korean offer includes “2 additional brand new Surions, 7 old MD500 Defender helicopters, and a Pohang-class corvette for the Philippine Navy, as a grant from the Korean government.”
PAF commanding general Lieutenant General Galileo Gerard R. Kintanar Jr. told the Senate, during the Department of National Defense (DND)’s 2019 budget hearing, that four platforms are being considered for PAF’s Combat Utility Helicopter acquisition project which include Bell 412EPI from Bell Helicopter Textron US, Leonardo AW139M from Italy, S-70 Black Hawk from US, and the Russian Mil Mi-171.
(Mintfo)