Airbus aims for military deals in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Aircraft manufacturer Airbus is gearing up to help the Philippines expand its assets for national defense, offering the latest jets that the military can use to protect territories, especially in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Airbus yesterday declared readiness to support the country in upgrading its military fleet, citing the urgency to speed up defense modernization to respond to geopolitical conflicts.

Airbus chief representative for the Philippines Jussi Hoikka said countries in Asia and the Pacific are hiking their defense budgets and ordering more aircraft to improve their security capabilities in the face of cross-border tensions.

He said the Philippines should mirror these actions, floating the idea of working with Airbus for the expansion of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) fleet as the Philippines is considered an Airbus country on the commercial side, but not in the military segment.

The PAF, for instance, operates just seven Airbus units with the C295s, which it purchased from 2014 to 2021. The C295 is capable of airlifting up to nine tons of payload and currently it is deployed by PAF for defense and humanitarian missions.

Airbus is pitching its multipurpose jet A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) to PAF, as it is one of the most popular military aircraft used around the region.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Australia owns seven units of A330 MRTT, Singapore has six and South Korea has four.

Hoikka credits its popularity to its flexibility to support fighter jets and carry 45 tons of cargo.

Airbus is also offering its supply aircraft A400M to the country, which has the capacity to transport a maximum of 37 tons, making it useful for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

For the Philippine Coast Guard, Airbus is ready to supply it with H225Ms, a helicopter certified to operate for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO.

The H225M can carry out combat roles, as it is designed to navigate the airspace whatever the weather condition.

Hoikka also said the Philippines can use the A400M and H225M to do resupply missions for its vessels stationed in the WPS.