Philippines Eyes Buying 1-2 P-3C Orion from US

23 Mei 2019

US Navy P-3C Orion (photo : Aria H Kanzaki)

Lorenzana: PHL eyeing to acquire US surveillance planes due to be retired from service

Defense Secretary Delfin  Lorenzana on Tuesday night expressed his interest in acquiring the P3C Orion surveillance planes that the US government will be retiring from service, to add to the fleet monitoring and protecting Philippine territory.

“It will be good if we acquire even one P3C Orion. Provided it has all its original equipment. Otherwise, it will just be another transport plane. We will find out if we can get one or two,” Lorenzana said.

The US Navy has already set the last deployment of the P-3C Orion ahead of its retirement.

Lorenzana said that having the aircraft is important for the Department of the National Defense (DND) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to monitor and protect the country's territory in the South China Sea.

“Very important as our domain awareness will be greatly enhanced,” Lorenzana said.

The Defense secretary said that they will express their interest in acquiring the P-3C Orion to the US soon. 

(GMA News)