US attack helicopters for Manila – will it or won’t it?
The Philippine Air Force’s (PAF’s) desire to obtain new dedicated attack helicopters lurched forward on 30 April, when the US State Department announced a potential FMS of either Bell AH-1Z Viper or Boeing AH-64E Apache aircraft.
According to the State Department: ‘The Philippines is considering either the AH-64E or the AH-1Z to modernise its attack helicopter capabilities.’
For a long time, the Turkish Aerospace T129 Atak helicopter has been the preferred choice for the PAF.
Unfortunately for Manila, however, the sale of Turkish helicopters could quickly snarl to a halt due to political red tape, since there are fears the
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