MANILA (PNA) -- The Department of National Defense (DND) has formally signed the contact for the delivery of 28 "armored infantry fighting vehicles" which will boost the inventory of the Army's light armored units.
DND Assistant Secretary Patrick Velez said that this project is worth P882 million. He said the contract was already signed last week.
He added that the contract was awarded to Israeli's leading defense manufacturer, Elbit Systems Land and C4I.
Four of the 28 "armored infantry fighting vehicles" are recovery models which can be used to tow units damaged or incapacitated in the battlefield.
For security reasons, Velez declined to give specifics of the vehicles' armament, speed and armor but stressed that these armored infantry fighting vehicles "are very capable."
Full delivery of these vehicles is expected within a year or around January 2015.
The PA, which has around 10 infantry divisions, is equipped with 343 AFVs (armored fighting vehicles).
Capt. Anthony Bacus, Army spokesperson, said earlier that these AFVs are distributed to the various infantry units to provide them with mobility and additional firepower.
"Around 85 percent of these AFVs are on green status (fully mission capable) while another 10 percent are on yellow status (undergoing repair) and five percent are on red (beyond repair)," he added.
Some 150 of these are the United Kingdom-built GKN "Simba" with the remaining AFVs consisting of US designed V-150 and V-200 APCs, M-113 "Bradley", Turkish made ACV-300s and British Scorpion CVRTs.
These AFVs give the PA dependable armor capability and are organized into a 14-vehicle mechanized infantry companion for deployment with regular units.
(PNA)
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Philippine Army to 'recycle' old Scorpion tanks
MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippines will "recycle" its decommissioned Scorpion light reconnaissance tanks to bolster the Army's existing fleet of armored vehicles.
The Defense Department recently signed a P888-million contract with Israeli defense manufacturer Elbit Systems Land and C41 to upgrade 24 of the Philippine Army's M113 armored personnel carriers.
A major part of the project is the transfer of the Scorpion's two-man turret, which is equipped with a 76mm cannon and a 7.62mm machine gun, onto the M113 -- transforming it from a "battle taxi" into a fire support vehicle.
The upgraded M113 fire support vehicle will be equipped with new fire control and thermal imaging systems that will give the FSVs all-weather capability to detect and engage targets at longer distances as well as improve weapon accuracy.
According to Jane's, a military analysis website, the 76mm gun "will be very useful in counterinsurgency operations as it can fire a wide range of ammunition types including high explosive, smoke, illuminating, and high-explosive squash head."
Apart from the 14 M113 fire support vehicle variants, four of the M113's will be upgraded to Infantry Fighting Vehicles armed with 25mm automatic cannons.
The remaining six will be equipped with additional .50 caliber heavy machine guns.
These 24 M113's will also get an upgrade on armor protection and amphibious capability.
The Israeli firm will throw in, for free, four M113 armored recovery and repair vehicles.
The Philippine army expects delivery of the 28 combat vehicles by January 2015. These will then be spread out to the Army's infantry units.
As for the hull and other parts of the Scorpion light tanks, these will be used for spare and surplus parts.
This is not the first time the Scorpion's turret was recycled and transplanted onto another armored combat vehicle.
Australia installed the Scorpion turrets on 45 of its M113 armored personnel carriers and Canada installed it on their Grizzly wheeled armored personnel carrier. These vehicles, re-designated as fire support vehicles, have since been phased out.
(InterAksyon)
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