Philippine Air Force Organization

8/13/2019 Philippine Air Force Organization

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Philippine Air Force

Date Updated: Friday August 18, 2006

The PAF has been in a steady decline over the past 30 years that has only beenreversed in recent years. It still has fewer operational aircraft now than at any timesince the 1950's but its operational levels and tempo have increased. While largenumbers of aircraft are unavailable for operations, efforts are being undertaken toincrease the availability of its most important types. Efforts to acquire new equipment(new builds or second hand) have been stymied either by a lagging economy, bypolitical factors or both. Lately however this log jam has been broken by the US whichhas stepped up its assistance.

It is worthy to note that the last acquisitions of totally new aircraft made by the PAF were

Bell 412s for service with the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing and are used to flypoliticians around. Together with the 412s, the most modern and up-to-date equipmentis operated by the 250th. The Wing also enjoys better aircraft availability rates than therest of the PAF. A situation which sadly shows where the government's priorities lie.Personnel StrengthOver 17,000 personnel.Air Force Bases and Operating LocationsPlans and ProgramsThe PAF has been forced by events of September 11 to re-orient itself yet again. In aneffort to combat local opposition forces, the PAF is concentrating on maintaining thoseunits that are directly involved in supporting ground operations.

The supply of OV-10s from any source has all but dried up with the Thai OV-10s beingthe last ones anywhere in the world that the PAF had any hope of acquiring. The rest ofthe OV-10 operators, like the PAF, are keen to keep their aircraft operational for as longas possible. The OV-10 really has no equivalent as far as twin turbine engined counter-insurgency aircraft go without resorting to jet aircraft which are inherently less efficient

and therefore not as cost effective. With that in mind, the PAF has initiated aOV-10Service Life Extension Program that incorporates changes to the propulsion systems aswell as overhauls and zero timing of the airframe. Marsh Aviationhas been contractedby the Philippine Air Force to assist with the program. In the meantime, to make up forthe lack of COIN assets, the PAF has re-assigned SF-260TPs and S211 aircraft tosupplement the OV-10s.
http://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/paf_bases_map.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/paf_bases_map.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/ov-10.htm#Thai%20OV%2010%20Transferhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/ov-10.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/ov-10.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/MarshAviation.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/MarshAviation.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/ov-10.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/ov-10.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/ov-10.htm#Thai%20OV%2010%20Transferhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/paf_bases_map.htm


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The PAF fighter acquisition program has been put on hold and the PAFs 5th FighterWing has been stood down and its units and S211s reassigned to the 15th StrikeWing.. With limited funds allocated by the Philippine government, the PAF isincreasingly dependent on US aid for an F-5 replacement. With the US pre-occupationon counter-terrorism, the US is in no mood to provide aircraft that don't directly fulfill that

mission. In other words, don't look toward any fixed wing replacements for thegrounded F-5s any time soon.The 20 Hueys overhauled by Singapore Technologies have all been delivered.Contrary to other published reports, the Singapore Hueys are not ex-RSAF machinesbut are ex US Army. Singapore Technologies simply won the contract to overhaulthem. The Hueys were bought in the open market and shipped to Singapore foroverhaul. They were not acquired from Amarc stocks. A further 50 Hueys are duedirectly from the US and the PAF is negotiating with the US for an additional 8 Hueysfrom EDA stocks. One of the main reasons for the seemingly slow acquisition ofsurplus Hueys is the fact that there are few surplus Hueys in good condition available

from US stocks.

The PAF Huey II upgrade program started with US help but will end with one fullyfactory certified aircraft. The story does not end there however - the PAF has taken theexperience gained from the program and undertaken its own Huey II program - basicallyordering the same parts from the manufacturer and putting it together on their ownwithout the benefit (some would say scrutiny of the Bell reps). This is a remarkable andwelcome development which shows how long the PAF has come in its maintenance andupgrade capability. The "new" aircraft also sports a radome with Stormscope in thenose and a rescue winch on the starboard side. Like the earlier Huey II, it is alreadyoperational with the 505 ARG.

Ed: This development brings up a new, rather interesting question. Does the officialend of the Huey II program simply mean that the PAF is doing it all in-house? If so, wecould see more H model Hueys converted to the Huey II standard in the near future.

Another interesting development is the acquisition of six MDH530 helicopters tosupplement the MDH520 helicopter fleet. This is apparently in addition to six "Night

Attack" helicopters that the PAF is currently planning to acquire - long rumored to be anupgrade of the AH-1F Cobra optimized for night attack missions.

S211 numbers have gone up through a local refurbishment program, also with theassistance of Singapore Technologies and availability rates have come up somewhatfrom the low of 6 or 7 aircraft available for operations. Maintenance of the S211s arebeing done through local private industry with some participation from the air force.Technical expertise, supplies, and technology being supplied by the contractor.Funding has also been increased to bring a large number of grounded aircraft back intoservice after putting them through extensive overhauls.


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Operational Aircraft

Please double-click on the aircraft type to view Technical Details, Service History,Current Status, Photos and Fleet Information (Bandit Listing).Aircraft Operational In InventoryFixed Wing AircraftF-5 * 15OV-10 14 33S-211 7 (?) 19SF-260TP 7 (?) 13T-41 ? 15F-27 2 10F-28 1 1Nomad 2 6C-130/L100 3 13Rockewell

Aero Commander C690A 1 1Rotary winged aircraftMDH.520G 15 (?) 20UH-1H 55 (?) 55 + 20 +50B.205A-1 5 (?) 8 (?)Huey II 2 2Bell 212 1 1S.76/AUH-76A 4 14Bell 412SP 2 2Bell 412EP 5 5Puma 2 2Bell 214 Huey Plus"Big Lifter" 1 (?) 1S70 1 (?) 1* Remaining operationalF-5s grounded after crash on Jan 05, 2002. Two reportedoperational on January 15, 2003.
http://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/f-5a.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/f-5a.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/ov-10.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/s211.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/sf260.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/trainers.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/c130.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/mg-520.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/Huey.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/Huey.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/bell205.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/Huey.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/Huey.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/s-76.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/f-5list.htm#Write-Offshttp://www.hueybravo.net/f-5list.htm#Write-Offshttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/s-76.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/Huey.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/bell205.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/Huey.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/mg-520.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/c130.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/trainers.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/sf260.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/s211.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/ov-10.htmhttp://www.hueybravo.net/Airforcepage/f-5a.htm


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** 12 operationalSF.260TP grounded after a crash onDec 12, 2002*** 4 operationalNomads grounded after crash onDec 17, 2002.
http://www.hueybravo.net/sf260list.htm#Write-Offshttp://www.hueybravo.net/attrition.htm#December%2012,%202002http://www.hueybravo.net/nomad.htm#Write-Offshttp://www.hueybravo.net/attrition.htm#December%2017,%202002http://www.hueybravo.net/attrition.htm#December%2017,%202002http://www.hueybravo.net/attrition.htm#December%2017,%202002http://www.hueybravo.net/nomad.htm#Write-Offshttp://www.hueybravo.net/attrition.htm#December%2012,%202002http://www.hueybravo.net/sf260list.htm#Write-Offs

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Philippine Air Force Organization