Mixed results for Philippine maritime surveillance
The Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) second quest to acquire a pair of maritime patrol aircraft met with failure on 21 July when all contenders were disqualified for various reasons.
Three companies submitted bids by the 30 June deadline: Elbit Systems from Israel, PAL Aerospace from Canada and PT Dirgantara from Indonesia. The latter was offering the CN-235-220 MPA, as used by the Indonesian Navy (pictured above).
The reason for the tender’s failure is not immediately clear but the $120 million budget allocated by the Department of National Defense (DND) is a major factor. The peso is currently weak against
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