Lightweight Multi-Purpose Fixed Wing Aircraft Acquisition of the Philippine Coast Guard
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has embarked on the acquisition of a new Lightweight Multi-Purpose Fixed-Wing Aircraft as part of its capacity building and modernization efforts, specifically on its Air Unit.
The new aircraft is expected to become the groundwork of a new fleet of fixed-wing aircraft that the PCG is expected to acquire in the near future, as it makes known its requirement for more similar aircraft which will help the PCG meet its mandated duties.
This includes search and rescue (SAR), limited maritime patrol and surveillance, air ambulance, and utility roles.
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| The PCG's Cessna C208EX Grand Caravan EX aircraft, with serial number PCG 2081. Photo screen grabbed from PCG's video. |
Project Summary:
Lightweight Multi-Purpose Fixed Wing AIrcraft Acquisition Project (2020)
Note: edit as of 18 October 2021
* End User: Philippine Coast Guard
* Quantity: 1 unit
* Project ABC: Php250,000,000.00
* Acquisition Mode: Public Bidding
* Source of Funding: GAA Funds for 2020
* Winning Proponent: Hawker Pacific Asia Pte Ltd
* Product for Delivery: Cessna 208EX Grand Caravan
* Contract Price: Php249,999,000.00
* First post by MaxDefense: 26 February 2021
* MaxDefense Searching Hashtag/s: #PCGLightAircraftAcquisition
* Status: First bidding attempt has been made as early as 2019, but several bid failures delayed the project. Latest attempt was made on 04 December 2020, with SOBE scheduled on 28 December 2020.. Notice of Award (NOA) released by PCG on 30 December 2020 in favor of Hawker Pacific Asia Pty Ltd. Aircraft delivered to the PCG as of September 2021. Aircraft accepted and inducted to the PCG Air Wing, and conducted its first mission on 14 October 2021. PROJECT COMPLETED.
Overview:
The Philippine Coast Guard has been aiming to expand its air capabilities after years of dormancy. It has recently procured new helicopters, and have also started to rehabilitate its existing fixed-wing aircraft fleet of Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander light aircraft.
But the BN-2 Islander aircraft are old and are in need of replacement, even if they are upgraded and rehabilitated to further use.
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| One of the PCG's BN-2 Islander light aircraft. Photo credits to Wikipedia. |
With this, the PCG has started the acquisition of new Lightweight Multi-Purpse Fixed Wing Aircraft which will be used to start transitioning the PCG's Air Unit to newer fixed-wing aircraft. But funding remains an issue so the PCG decided to just acquire 1 aircraft for this specific project, which will then become a basis for its future requirements.
An Invitation to Bid (ITB) was released by the PCG on May 2020, but it appears that the project had several bid failures and did not materialize.
The project's latest attempt was made on 04 December 2020, with some revisions made on the requirements including the delivery schedule. The Submission of Bids scheduled by 28 December 2020. with Hawker Pacific Asia Pte Ltd declared the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bidder.
A Notice of Award (NOA) was released in favor of Hawker Pacific Asia Pte Ltd on 30 December 2020, or just 2 days after being declared the bidding winner. This is something that is quite surprising since it appears that there was no more Post-Bid Inspections or Qualifications conducted.
According to our parent MaxDefense Philippines, the aircraft to be delivered will be the Cessna 208EX Grand Caravan, as per sources and the technical specifications of the project. It also appears that the Cessna 208EX Grand Caravan was the basis of the technical specifications, which made it easy for the aircraft to be selected.
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| The Cessna 208EX Grand Caravan showing its cargo compartment located below the airframe. Photo credits to AIN Online. |
We would be updating this resource page once we gather more information on the overall capabilities of the aircraft, but it is expected that the new aircraft will have minimal surveillance capabilities and can be used for short range maritime patrol, search and rescue, and air ambulance roles in line with the PCG's mandate.
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U P D A T E S:
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26 February 2021:
Hawker Pacific Asia Pte Ltd was given the Notice of Award (NOA) for the project, and is expected to deliver the Cessna 208EX Grand Caravan aircraft.
It remains to be seen if the Notice to Proceed (NTP) will be released soon as this would be the basis for Hawker Pacific Asia's delivery deadline, which was contractually indicated as 300 calendar days from release of NTP.
We can expect then that the new aircraft will be delivered to the PCG between late 2021 or early 2022, depending of the release of NTP, and on Hawker Pacific Asia's capability to deliver the aircraft earlier than the deadline.
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| The NOA awarded to Hawker Pacific Asia Pte Ltd by the PCG. Photo credits to PhilGEPS. |
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10 September 2021:
The Philippine Coast Guard's Commander Adm. George Ursabia Jr. has inspected the new Cessna 208EX Grand Caravan EX aircraft with s/n 2081 at the Department of Transportation's hangar at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila.
The aircraft appears to have been marked only recently, and has not been officially handed-over to the PCG.
It remains to be seen when the aircraft would be inducted, although this could happen before the PCG's anniversary on October 2021.
Photo credits to the Philippine Coast Guard.
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18 October 2021:
The PCG has confirmed that it has already used the Cessna C208EX Grand Caravan EX aircraft for its first mission on 14 October 2021, which means the aircraft has been formally received and inducted earlier than that.
No exact date has been provided, but this only means that the aircraft has been fully delivered, but our contributors believe that it could have been done before the end of September 2021.
With this, it is safe to mark this project as COMPLETED.
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| Photo screen grabbed from PCG's video. |
Video of the aircraft's first mission can be seen on the PCG's Facebook page, with the link provided below.
https://www.facebook.com/coastguardph/videos/1024900101577551/
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First edit and release: 26 February 2021
Copyright MaxDefense Philippines / Philippine Defense Resource
IMHO the PCG should acquire at least two LET L-410NG equipped as Poland's are with EO/IR sensors, radar, comms & datalink, and SAR equipment. Few aircraft in this category can lift this weight, fly as far, and operate off of short unimproved fields.
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