Thailand donates 4 OV-10 planes to Air Force

The government of Thailand turned over four Royal Thai air force OV-10C aircraft to the Philippines in a formal ceremony at the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing hangar at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City yesterday.

President Arroyo received the documents for the four aircraft from Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was accompanied by Royal Thai air force chief marshal Kongsak Vantana.

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez was with Mrs. Arroyo during the short turnover ceremony.

The President then turned over the aircraft to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Narciso Abaya, Air Force Lt. Gen. Nestor Santillan and Brig. Gen. Jose Nano, commander of the PAF’s 15th Strike Wing, the unit that will use the newly acquired aircraft.

Santillan, in an earlier interview, said the aircraft was received at no cost to the Philippine government.

Each OV-10C aircraft, called a Bronco, costs $327,000 or about P18 million, an Air Force statement said.

The OV-10C Bronco is the Air Force’s primary weapon to counter insurgency and lately, terrorism. It is the first to be employed in every major military campaign by the AFP against enemies of the state, the statement said.

Most field commanders rely on the Broncos to soften hostile ground before foot soldiers move to secure enemy camps and installations, the Air Force said.

These four newly acquired aircraft will see action in the rugged battlefields of the southern Philippines, it added.

The formal transfer of the four aircraft marked the high point of a yearlong acquisition process. The Air Force came across reports as early as August last year that the Royal Thai air force planned to retire its OV-10C fleet.

Mrs. Arroyo’s meeting with Thaksin when she went on a state visit to Thailand in April this year accelerated the transfer of an initial batch of four Broncos, out of the eight that will be donated, a year earlier than planned. The remaining four Broncos will arrive in September next year.

Vantana visited the Philippines last May and talked with Santillan, eventually sealing the terms of the transfer.

The four Broncos were shipped to the Philippines on board m/v Anne Boye and was off-loaded at the Subic Bay Freeport on Aug. 23.

They underwent a maintenance inspection conducted by a combined team of Philippine and Thai air force officers in preparation for their first flight in Philippine airspace.

On Aug. 26, PAF pilots flew the four Broncos in a tight diamond formation from Subic to Danilo Atienza Air Base at Sangley Point in Cavite, where the 15th Strike Wing is based.