JAKARTA - Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana ordered the cessation of operations of the Philippine Air Force's Black Hawk helicopter military fleet, Thursday, June 24.
The order was issued after an S-70i Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a drill in a province north of the capital Manila, killing six people on board.
"The S-70i Black Hawk helicopter, one of 16 purchased in 2019 from Poland, crashed Wednesday evening after taking off from a former US military base in Pampanga Province," the air force said in a statement.
"The search and rescue team subsequently found the wreckage of the combat utility helicopter. An investigation has been launched," the statement continued.
The Philippines is known to have ordered 16 S-70i Black Hawk helicopters with a value of around US$241.4 million from PZL Mielec Poland, a subsidiary of Sikorsky. The S-70i is an export version for the international market assembled by PZL Mielec.
Six Black Hawk helicopters, including the downed one, were delivered last November, while another five were delivered early June and are under technical inspection. The final batch will ship later this year.
In July, four soldiers were killed and another injured after a 'Huey' military helicopter crashed while taking off for a nighttime training operation in the northern Philippines.
To note, most of the equipment used by the Philippine military is old, including World War Two-era warships and vintage Vietnam War aircraft. To rejuvenate its military, the Philippines has allocated more than US$6 billion to upgrade its defense capabilities between 2018 - 2022.
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