Ukrainian Ruslan has delivered five Black Hawk helicopters to the Philippines

 Ukraine's An-124 Ruslan transport plane delivered five S-70i Black Hawk helicopters to the Philippines.

with reference to UMP.

The total duration of the flight An-124 was 3 days. On the way, the plane made an intermediate landing in Kuwait.

The first helicopter was reportedly delivered to the Philippines by sea in August 2020.

The contract for the supply of 16 S-70i S-70i multi-role helicopters developed by the Philippine Air Force was signed in April 2019.
Black Hawk helicopters were delivered to the Philippines by Ukrainian plane. November 2020. Photo: Media Philippines

The procurement was implemented as part of the second phase of the modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The cost of the sale was about $ 240 million.

Helicopters for the Philippines are assembled at the Polish company PZL Mielec, which is a division of Sikorsky.

According to the helicopters, they will be certified by the American company Lockheed Martin, which specializes in the field of aircraft construction.

Deliveries of the S-70i "Black Hawk" of the Philippines will be performed in batches and are scheduled to be completed in 2021.

Helicopters are fully ready for combat use in 2023.

The S-70i was ordered to replace the Bell-412EPI, whose supply contract was canceled. The new helicopters will replace the obsolete UH-1.

"The purchase of 16 S-70i combat helicopters manufactured by the Polish Mielec Aircraft Plant (PZL-Mielec) is an excellent example of cooperation between our countries," said Jaroslav Szczepankiewicz, Managing Director of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Manila.

The S-70i can be armed with machine guns, but will mainly be used to transport troops and cargo, provide humanitarian assistance and support disaster relief operations.