MANILA, Philippines (Corrected 9:25 p.m.) — The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has received four ScanEagle unmanned aerial systems from the US military.
The Air Force received the drones worth P200 million ($4 million) during a ceremony at the Clark Air Base in Pampanga on Wednesday.
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The drones will be used to boost the Armed Forces of the Philippines' domain awareness and border security capabilities.
The US Embassy in Manila said the new systems will provide "additional capabilities in unmanned Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and in support of counterterrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts."
“We remain committed to our promises on helping modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and we hope this will further strengthen our combined capabilities in working together towards a free and open Indo-Pacific,” US Embassy US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Heather Variava said.
Variava led the turnover ceremony with Philippine defense officials, including Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Lt. Gen. Allen Paredes, commanding general of the PAF.
US Indo-Pacific Command Adm. John Aquilino and representatives from the US Embassy's Joint US Military Assistance Group were also present during the turnover.
The US Embassy noted that the Philippines is the recipient of the largets US military assistance in the Indo-Pacific region so far.
"Since 2015, the United States has delivered more than P50.6 billion ($1.06 billion) worth of planes, ships, armored vehicles, small arms, and other military equipment to the Philippines, while training side-by-side with our Filipino allies," the US Embassy said in a media release. — Patricia Lourdes Viray
(Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect that the ScanEagle UASs are worth P200 million and not P20 million as reported in an earlier version.)