A multinational aerospace company, Airbus, sees the Philippines as an important market for the company. The country’s defense market is poised to grow since the country is undergoing fleet modernization and renewing its legacy assets.
Airbus is set to deliver another 2 units of C-295 aircraft to the Philippine Air Force in the coming months which would complete the government’s order of 3 such Airbus aircraft worth $100.68 million made in 2019. C-295 aircraft are being used for the delivery of cargo personnel suitable for humanitarian and airlift missions. They also act as maritime patrol aircraft since they are equipped with state-of-the-art mission systems – Fully Integrated Tactical Systems (FITS) and comprehensive sensor suites. Airbus leads the Philippines’ military tactical segment since they have delivered a fleet of 5 C-295 airlifters to date.
Airbus has been physically operating in the Philippines for more than 40 years now and they have partnered with many local manufacturers and suppliers providing them with a wide range of equipment and parts across the commercial aircraft, defense, and helicopter product lines. Moreover, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) in partnership with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has been planning to establish a Defense Industrial Ecozones, utilizing military reserve areas and this made the firm open to exploring the possibility of investing further in the country.
(Source: Philippine News Agency, The Manila Times)
