Philippines considers buying US helicopters after scrapping the deal with Russia

Asia-Pacific, News, US August 15, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

The Philippines is considering buying U.S.-made CH-47 helicopters after scrapping its Mi-17 helicopter deal with Russia due to the western sanctions.

The Philippines signed a deal with Russia in November 2021 for 16 units of Mi-17 helicopters after former President Rodrigo Duterte approved $322.3 million for a military modernization program. The Philippines had made a down payment of $48.2 million dollar to Russia’s Sovtechnoexport in January 2022. However, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022, the Philippines canceled the deal unilaterally due to western pressure.

The continuation of the deal with Russia could have resulted in the imposition of economic sanctions on the Philippines, hampering the fast bank transfers of the income Filipino workers send home from the U.S. and other western countries.

The spokesperson of the Philippines National Defense Department Arsenio Andolong confirmed the government’s efforts to terminate the contract with Russia.

“We are also preparing to initiate a diplomatic dialogue with the Russian side regarding matters arising from the project’s cancellation. Changes in priorities necessitated by global political developments resulted in the cancellation of the project by the previous administration,” Andolong said.

After confirmation of the contract’s termination, the U.S. has offered to sell Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters as a replacement for the Mi-17 helicopters. The Philippines had been considering CH-47 as one of the options since last year.

U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook Helicopter (L), Bulgarian Air Force Mi-17 Helicopter (R) — *^{Left: U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook Helicopter. (Image Credit: U.S. Army/Spc. Glenn M. Anderson). Right: Bulgarian Air Force Mi-17 Helicopter. (Image Credit: Creative Commons)}*

The newly appointed Filipino government is trying to recover the down payment from Russia before it starts the new deal with the U.S. If the deal had gone through Russia, the Philippines would have received the first batch of helicopters within two years. Russia’s Sovtechnoexport was also considering providing one extra Mi-17 helicopter to the Philippines apart from the 16 units mentioned in the deal.

The Philippines needs heavy transport helicopters for combat, search and rescue operations. Such helicopters are especially useful in carrying out medical evacuations in the Southeast Asian archipelago which is often impacted by typhoons and storms.

In March 2022, the Philippines voted “yes” on a United Nations resolution that demanded an immediate halt to Moscow’s attack on Ukraine and the withdrawal of all Russian troops. Despite having close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin the former President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte expressed his concerns over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impacts on the global order.

The Philippines is a long-term ally and military partner of the United States. Due to financial constraints, the Philippines has struggled for years to modernize its military. With territorial disputes in the South China Sea and decade-long internal insurgencies, the Philippines needs to go through with the military modernization deals, which is currently proving to be a difficult task due to the regional and global geopolitical landscape.