Why the Philippines is still awaiting long-range patrol aircraft after a decade
The Philippines appears set to purchase two maritime patrol aircraft from Israel, perhaps based on IAI’s ELI-3360 MPA. (Photo: IAI)
It is believed that the Philippine Air Force has selected an Israeli solution for its maritime patrol aircraft programme.
Manila still has not obtained maritime patrol aircraft for the Philippine Air Force (PAF), even though it started a search for new platforms back in 2013. However, Department of National Defense (DND) documents from January reveal that a notice of award was issued on 14 November 2022, before being amended on 5 January.
Furthermore, initial funding under the special allotment release order had been approved in August 2022. However, this had to be revalidated since a contract had not yet been issued before the funding lapsed.
The blogsite MaxDefense Philippines claims that the winning contender is Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI)
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