The PCG announced on 9 September that it has acquired a new Cessna Grand Caravan EX as part of its lightweight multipurpose fixed-wing aircraft acquisition programme. (Philippine Coast Guard)
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) announced on 9 September that it has acquired a Cessna Grand Caravan EX multirole aircraft as part of its lightweight, fixed-wing aircraft acquisition programme to replace its ageing fleet of Britten-Norman BN-2A Islanders.
Before retiring from the service, then-PCG Chief Admiral George V Ursabia Jr inspected the new aircraft at a Department of Transportation hangar in Pasay City.
The PCG noted that the new aircraft “will significantly improve the performance of the [Coast Guard Aviation Force]”, particularly when conducting surveillance, search-and-rescue (SAR), and medical evacuation (medevac) missions.
The new Grand Caravan EX will join and later replace two BN-2A Islanders that were procured in the late 1990s.
The PCG Aviation Force also operates a pair of Airbus H-145 utility helicopters that were acquired as part of the Maritime Disaster Response Helicopter project and formally inducted into service in 2020 following the retirement of the old BO 105 helicopters. Additional helicopters are likely to be procured under the same project to complete the original requirement stated by the PCG in December 2018 for about eight light and medium multirole helicopters.
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