This past 12 months saw the strong increase of ISR capability of the Philippine Air Force, specifically the 300th Air Intelligence & Security Wing, due to the arrival of new ISR-capable air assets.
July 2017 saw the arrival of the Cessna 208 Grand Caravan ISR, while in early 2018 saw the arrival of the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle 2 UAV. And now we can confirm the arrival of the ISR mission system for the C-130T, even though the aircraft itself is operated by the 220th Airlift Wing.
More purchased and granted assets are expected to arrive until 2019, and we already got some shoulder taps of possible additional units coming from the US government until 2020. The long delayed Long Range Patrol Aircraft should have been the icing on the cake, and we is still hopeful for it to restart the procurement process within this year.
2 new light lift planes to boost Armed Forces Of The Philippines capability
If everything proceeds according to plans, it will make the 300th AISW one of the best equipped units of the Philippine Air Force, and probably one of the best equipped ISR unit in the region. This considering just early last year the PAF has to rely on cargo planes and attack aircraft to conduct missions using eyeball, binoculars and DSLR cameras only.
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