To enhance the Coast Guard force’s maritime capabilities. Seven more Airbus helicopters are set to acquire by the Philippine Coast Guard.
According to the PCG Commandant, Admiral George V. Ursabia. he said that aside from vessels, the PCG force needs aircraft, particularly helicopters for search and rescue (SAR) operations, especially during the typhoon season, and to answer distress calls from vessels plying the country’s vast ocean.
the PCG Commandant pertains to the Airbus H145 light twin-engine helicopter, bought in Germany, with tail number CGH-1452 commissioned into the PCG service last June 18, 2020. It has been deployed in various maritime search and rescue and marine environmental protection initiatives in the past months.
Also, it is one of the most utilized PCG assets in transporting personal protective equipment (PPE) sets, medical supplies and medicines to far-flung communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest addition to the PCG choppers is the newly-commissioned Airbus CGH-1451, better equipped than the first. It has infrared camera, weather radar and floatation device and can be landed in seawater when its engine gives up.
Ursabia said currently, the PCG has only four choppers — two of them are already old.
The acquired Airbus helicopter costs P685 million, the PCG said.
Aside from helicopters, Ursabia said the PCG is also preparing for the two units of 94-meter multi-role meter multi-role response vessels from Japan slated to arrive in 2022.
Recently, the PCG successfully procured four defiant fast patrol boats from the United States; 40 units of 12-meter fast patrol boats; 20 units of fast patrol craft with speed of up to 50 knots; eight units of .50 caliber remote controlled weapon system; and 13,622 maritime law enforcement firearms from Israel.
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