The Philippine Air Force finally got a Proper Maritime Patrol Aircraft

Finally, after a lot of delays and roadblocks along the way, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) can now really say that it got itself a proper Maritime Patrol Aircraft. This is after decades of not having one in its inventory.

A photo from Philippine Plane Spotters Group (PPSG) revealed the modifications made on one of the PAF's Lockheed C-130T Hercules heavy tactical transport aircraft, which was seen with a protrusion near the rear paratroop door, and an oversized door glass in it.

The PAF's C-130T with tail number 5040 was seen in Mactan-Cebu International Airport with what appears to be a SABIR system and a sensor pod on the starboard side.
Cropped from original photo by Darvs Bautista, posted at Philippine Plane Spotters Group (PPSG) Facebook page.

In its Facebook community page, MaxDefense made an initial assessment that the photo is an evidence of the delivery and installation of the Airdyne Aerospace Special Airborne Mission Installation and Response (SABIR) system, with possibly an Electro-Optical Infra-Red (EO/IR) module in it. It appears that we are partially righr in this.

MaxDefense was also able to obtain another photo of the same C-130T aircraft with the SABIR upgrade and a mission sensor pod attached to it.

The same C-130T with tail no. 5040 can be seen here again with the same SABIR upgrade and a sensor pod attached to the retractable arm near the paratroop door.
Photo provided by a MaxDefense contributor who wish to remain anonymous for PERSEC reasons.

The Source - US Maritime Security Initiative:

The delivery of these upgrades for the PAF's C-130 was born out of a commitment made by the former US Pres. Barrack Obama to the Philippines in 2015 as part of the US Maritime Security Initiative. Among the programs allocated for the Philippines was the delivery of a palletized Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) kit for use on then recently-acquired C-130T Hercules transport aircraft, under a package which was estimated to be worth US$8.7 million.

While other parts of its commitment were partially or fully completed, the ISR kit appears to be the last to be realized, with this specific kit seen on PAF C-130T Hercules with tail number 5040 said to have arrived in the Philippines for installation only several weeks ago.


The Airdyne Aerospace SABIR System:

The US military made use of the Canadian-built SABIR system, that allows the mounting of modular pods externally without the need for modifications on the airframe except for the rear paratrooper doors.

It involves the replacement of the standard rear paratroop door into a SABIR AS-6 door panel system with an oversized bubble window which allows a wider view of the outside by an observer. It was also designed for a seating observer which can swivel the seat between the door panel and the T-4 computer control workstation positioned nearby.

There is an option also from Airdyne to allow the dropping of sonobuoys for submarine detection although the PAF may not have included this in its system. But it can always be an option in the future.

Some of the mission pod options that can be used by the SABIR system.
Photo from Think Defence UK blog page.

The module also includes a retractable arm (AS-7) with a standard ejector rack ready to accept different kinds of modular pods including ISR equipment like EO/IR systems, radars, intelligence equipment (COMINT, SIGINT and ELINT), among others.

Mission pods can easily be installed or removed while the arm can be retracted to a minimized position during mission changes or when not needed for use once the aircraft is being used for usual transport duties. All this can be made within less than 2 hours as confirmed by a source with the PAF.

The typical components of the SABIR system which is the same as what the PAF uses.
Photo taken from Think Defence UK blog page.

The Philippines' C-130 ISR Modification:

In the case of the Philippine Air Force C-130T, several systems were installed to convert the aircraft into a dual use surveillance/maritime patrol - heavy tactical transport platform.

Both port and starboard side rear paratroop doors were replaced with the SABIR AS-6 door, including the installation of the SABIR AS-7 retractable arm.

Each arm carries an ISR equipment, one with an L3 Wescam MX-15HD EO/IR turret for day and night visual surveillance, detecting heat signatures, for target tracking, for video and photo recording, among other capabilities.

The PAF system uses am L3 Wescam MX-15HDi EO/IR system. Above photo shows a typical configuration of an MX-15 system which provides high definition day and night imaging
Credits to owner of the photo.

This configuration is similar to what the PAF uses for the EO/IR pod, except for the actual model of EO/IR which in the PAF's case is the smaller L3 Wescam MX-15HDi system.
Photo taken from Think Defence UK blog page.

The other arm carries a large circular pod with an Israeli-made Elta ELM-2022 synthetic aperture surveillance radar which allows the aircraft to detect surface or ground targets with a range of 200 nautical miles forl ships. This is the pod visible from the photo shared in PPSG's page.

The PAF uses the Elta ELM-2022A maritime surveillance radar for the SABIR-equipped C-130T. The panel antenna is small enough to fit in a encased dome pod as seen on the photo from PPSG.
Photo taken from Elta's website.

Both sensors are connected to modular control computer consoles operated by men of the 300th Air Intelligence and Security Wing, while the aircraft is flown by pilots from the 220th Airlift Wing.

A Satellite Communication (SATCOM) / Line of Sight system, as well as military radio communication systems are also installed on the aircraft to allow the crew to communicate with other ground, naval or air units or stations.

Two T-4 workstations are available for the operation of the surveillance radar and EO/IR system.

A typical layout of the SABIR system. The one used on the PAF's C-130T is essentially the same except for the sensor pods used.
Photo taken from Think Defence UK blog page.

Other Details:

So far, sources confirmed that there is only one of the PAF's C-130 that has this upgrade, although we believe another set could be provided by the US to be installed with the other C-130T of the PAF. This upgrade is said to be the easiest, least costly alternative in the market at the moment, and the US might even be willing to provide more sets for the PAF in the future, this despite the PAF acquiring real Maritime Patrol Aircraft under its stalled Long Range Patrol Aircraft (LRPA) acquisition program.

Apparently it took several weeks for the upgrade works to be made, including maintenance works done of the C-130T. To cover its absence, the PAF's C-295 fleet was put to good use in providing logistics support to the AFP. All works were only done locally at Benito Ebuen Air Base in Mactan, with minimal foreign assistance.

Training of operators and maintenance crews are said to be ongoing, although the PAF has an experience advantage with the L3 Wescam MX-15D EO/IR system due to it being used in their Cessna 208 Grand Caravan ISR aircraft also provided by the US government through military assistance program.

The PAF is also said to be interested in making use of the platform for Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) and Signal Intelligence (SIGINT), as well as Communication Intelligence (COMINT) missions by using specific mission sensors that can be acquired by the PAF in a latter time. This is actually related to the overall C4ISTAR build up of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, considering SIGINT and ELINT capabilities are being sought after as well by the Philippine Navy and its Naval Air Group, which wanted to utilize its existing fleet of Beechcraft C-90 King Air for such missions.

MaxDefense believes that the PAF should have considered using the larger MX-20 EO/IR system which was designed for larger aircraft like the C-130. The MX-15, in MaxDefense's opinion, is small and is better equipped on smaller aircraft like the Cessna 208 Grand Caravan or the upcoming OV-10G+ Combat Dragon II Broncos.


With the modifications expected to be visible always, MaxDefense expects more photos of the aircraft to be posted online as taken by various amateur and professional photographers or plane spotters. Expect MaxDefense to also make more updates on this project, or if there will be any follow-on deliveries or related news on this.


Summary:

1. Upgrade of PAF C-130T Hercules to ISR Platform

End User: Philippine Air Force (220th Airlift Wing and 300th Air Intelligence & Security Wing)
Modernization Phase: US Military Assistance (not under any Horizon phase)
ABC: unknown
SARO Release: N/A
Proponent: US Government, most probably through HISS Canada and Airdyne Aerospace Canada
Bid Price: N/A
First post by MaxDefense:
Concept: 18 April 2016
Delivery: 26 July 2018

U P D A T E S:

11 August 2018:

MaxDefense received confirmation that the Philippine Air Force will be formally accepting the SABIR system installed on one of the PAF's C-130T Hercules this 14 August 2018. No exact time has been provided yet although the event will be held at the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing's hangar @ VIllamor Air Base in Pasay City.

The guest of honor is Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana. As expected, Pres. Duterte won't be there to grace the event as the SABIR system came from US Military Assistance. It is well known that Pres. Duterte has hatred of the Americans and attending here would be against his policies.

Also, it was revealed to MaxDefense that the C-130T ISR would indeed be used as Maritime Domain Awareness platform, with focus on patrolling the West Philippine Sea, Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal area, Batanes and the borders with Taiwan, and the Philippine Rise. 

Meanwhile, the PAF is using the smaller Cesna 208 Grand Caravan ISR aircraft in the southern corridors of the Philippines, near the borders with Malaysia and Indonesia.

Another SABIR system is also expect to be provided by the Americans that could be installed on the 2nd C-130T in the PAF's fleet. This would allow the PAF to conduct more ISR missions while still being available when needed as a transport asset. As explained before, the sensor pods and the control consoles can easily be removed by PAF technicians within 2 hours, while the the SABIR retractable external arm can remain while the C-130T is used as for cargo missions.

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Philippine Air Force to Procure Elbit's Hermes 900 Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAV Under Horizon 2 Phase

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has been for some time always at the mercy of other allies to provide military assistance in times of crisis. With the Marawi City crisis already more than 2 months, the AFP has called on the United States and Australia to provide surveillance and intelligence gathering assistance for the AFP, which translated to the deployment of US Navy P-3C and Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orions, as well as several RQ-20 Puma small UAVs from the US Special Operations Forces in the Philippines. 

It was made known by a solicitation posted by the US Navy in one of its websites that the Philippines is not new to drone operations, being an operator of the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle small UAV system for quite some time now. It was also noted in many occassions that the AFP is in possession of other UAV systems like the locally made Raptor and Knight Faclon which were used during the Zamboanga Crisis as well as newly delivered RQ-11B Raven small UAVs to the Philippine Marine Corps.

There are also unconfirmed but possibly true reports that the Philippines, with the tutelage of the US Armed Forces, acquired two General Atomics RQ-1 Predator UAVs more than a decade ago, although one was said to have been lost in a crash years ago.

These show that the AFP has seen the use of drones as an effective way of gathering information, and providing support to military forces. But never did we expect something big coming until lately.

The Hermes 900 from Elbit Systems.
Credits to owner of photo.

A photo of an unnamed large Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flying "somewhere in Luzon" was first posted by Pinoy Aviators' Facebook page mid July 2017, which was shared by our community members to MaxDefense for further dissemination to more people. This was met with positive acceptance from the general Filipino public, with many calling for its acquisition.

This was further boosted by news from Flight Global, confirming that Elbit Systems has indeed brought in a Hermes 900 medium altitude, long endurance (MALE) UAV to the Philippines for demonstration. MaxDefense received documents confirming that a Hermes 900 demonstrator was sent in by Elbit Systems, conducted Demonstration Flights at the vicinity of Fernando Air Base in Lipa, Batangas between July 17 to 26, 2017. This was corraborated further by our last post of a Hermes 900 inside a hangar at Fernando Air Base with a high ranking AFP officer with it. said to be taken a day before we posted in @ MaxDefense Philippine group page.

The Hermes 900 as seen here in Fernando Air Base in Batangas (erroneously reported in our Facebook page as Clark Air Base), during its demonstrations for the Armed Forces of the Philippines last July 2017.
Credits to owner of the photo which will need to remain anonymous.

Under Horizon 1 Phase of the AFP Modernization Program, there were no mention of any unmanned aerial vehicle acquisition project in several AFPMP updates and documents received by MaxDefense in the last 1 year except for the Marine Forces Imagery and Targeting Support System (MITSS) awarded to Triton Communications and scheduled for delivery this year. That is why MaxDefense was surprised when a new update was made mentioning the acquisition of what is coined as the "PAF Unmanned Aerial Vehicle" project coinciding with the appearance of the Hermes 900 in the Philippines.

MaxDefense is grateful to its sources for being able to get enough information to confirm that the Philippine Air Force is in the process of acquiring long endurance drones, specifically the Elbit Systems Hermes 900 UAV under the above mentioned project, with a budget amounting to Php 8,470,000,000.00 (US$167.722 million at today's rate).

The Hermes 900 was seen here flying "somewhere in Luzon" last July 2017. MaxDefense believes this is somewhere in Batangas-Laguna area near Fernando Air Base where the demonstrations were made by Elbit Systems to the AFP and other armed services of the government like the Philippine National Police.
Photo taken and credited to Pinoy Aviators' Facebook page.

The Hermes 900 UAV:

Elbit Systems' Hermes 900 is their most advanced UAV on offer, and among Israel's most advanced UAV system. It is described as a medium altitude, long endurance UAV platform that is capable of, and quoting Elbit's own description, "over-the-horizon, persistent multi-mission, multi-payload capabilities" and also "performing missions for area dominance and persistent ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance)".

The Hermes 900 can also be used for surveillance and maritime patrol missions, which was actually the configuration initially offered by Elbit Systems to the Philippine Air Force during ADAS 2014.

Due to its large size and its capacity to carry up to 350 kilograms of payload, the UAV can be equipped with EO/IR/Laser Tracking and Targeting System, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI), Communication Intelligence (COMINT), Communication Jamming (COMJAM), Electronic Intelligence (ELINT), Electronic Warfare (EW), and other payloads.

The Hermes 900 has an endurance of up to 36 hours, and service ceiling of 30,000 feet. Considering that these are the posted figures by Elbit Systems, expect the actual endurance and service ceiling to be greater than that.

Among the countries that use the Hermes 900 are Israel, Chile, Mexico, and recently Switzerland acquired 6 units to replace older and less capable UAVs in their fleet. Should the PAF acquire this, they will be in possession of the most capable UAV system in the region.

The Hermes 900 as seen here (illustration, not actual photo) conducting maritime patrol missions. This same photo was posted by MaxDefense in 2015 to describe the PAF's Flight Plan 2028.
Photo taken from Elbit System's website.

Working System:

Being from the same family of UAVs employing the same characteristics and systems, both the Hermes 900 and the smaller Hermes 450 can work together simultaneously, and can be operated almost seamlessly. They are operated on a Universal Ground Control Station, and includes other systems like a Ground Data Terminal and Ground Support Equipment as part of the package.

Both UAVs are designed to be operated by a relatively small crew and a small logistics footprint feature. It is advanced enough to also have greater autonomy with need for minimal supervision from controllers, and its flight path can be set with multiple options available.

It also has autonomous take-off and landing capabilities which will make it easier for controllers to safely operate.

As mentioned by our sources, despite being large enough to carry small precision guided munitions, the Hermes 900 is not configured for attack missions. Thus any strike mision would be handled by the PAF's Close Air Support aircraft (OV-10 and hopefully EMB-314 Super Tucano), Attack Helicopters (AW-109E, MD-520MG and another helicopter model that will arrive early next year and MaxDefense will decline to name for now as requested by PAF sources), Surface Attack Aircraft (FA-50PH), and the future Multi-Role Fighter will be conducting.

A typical ground control station used by the Hermes 450 UAV. It is possible that the Hermes 900 may use a similar system due to its development based on the Hermes 450.
Photo taken from Israe Weapons website.

UAV Acquisitions for the Philippine Air Force:

The Philippine Air Force has a requirement for what it calls the Land-Based Unmanned Aerial System which is a joint project with the General Headquarters, Armed Forces of the Philippines (GHQ-AFP). Based on the latest version of the Horizon 2 phase list submitted to Malacanang, the requirement is for at least 8 systems, although it was not specified what type.

The intention of the UAV acquisition is to provide maritime and ground surveillance requirements and would be working together with the Long Range Patrol Aircraft (LRPA), which the first two units are still pending acquisition after a second bidding failure recently. It is expected to be operated by the 300th Air Intelligence and Security Group.

It would also be part of the AFP's C4ISTAR system, thus the joint acquisition with GHQ-AFP.

Originally it was not the intention to front-load the Land-Based UAS acquisition due to other compelling needs in the AFP. But the thread of terrorism including the Marawi City crisis and ISIS-related threats, narcotics trade and proliferation and cross-border crime and terrorism has given the Philippine government a reason to push through with the acquisition to provide the AFP with sufficient surveillance capabilities. The delays on the LRPA project did not help the situation either.

The current project, now simply called PAF Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, is among the first Horizon 2 projects to be implemented for acquisition and has an allocated budget of Php 8.47 billion.

MaxDefense sources made it known that the project, in close coordination with Israel's Ministry of Defense, considered only Israeli-made UAVs which included Elbit's Hermes 450 and Hermes 900, and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Heron 1. In the end, the PAF chose the Hermes 900, the newest and most capable of the choices. The demonstration of the Hermes 900 UAVs last July 2017 in Fernando Air Base, Batangas, culminated the decision to choose the Hermes 900 and to approve its acquisition.

Four UAVs are to be acquired under Horizon 2 phase, and it appears that based on the quantity and ABC, each complete set of Hermes 900 including the undetermined sensors package, integrated logistics support (ILS), training, support equipment and other ancillaries will cost around Php 2.12 billion (US$41.93 million) each. This means that the Hermes 900 will cost more than the PAF's FA-50PH Fighting Eagle!

In comparison, MaxDefense sources confirmed that three (3) Hermes 450 can be acquired for Php 1 billion as of 2012, but considering inflation and cost escalations, we believe that the price may be somewhere near Php 400 million each for the Hermes 450 by now.

Elbit Systems first offered the Hermes 900 during ADAS 2014 as a maritime patrol solution for the country, although they have been offering the smaller Hermes 450 to the PAF since 2012.

The acquisition will be a Government-to-Government (G-to-G) with the State of Israel, which means that no more bidding will be made for this acquisition. Based on latest information, the approval from the Secretary of National Defense was only made on the 3rd week of July 2017, and was submitted for approval by President Duterte on the same week. It is expected that the President will approve it since he mentioned about the acquisition a few days later, which was picked up by some media outlets.




Absorption and Integration into the PAF and AFP:

MaxDefense believes this is the main concern on bringing in the Hermes family of UAVs, especially the Hermes 900.

Except for the reported Boeing Insitu ScanEagles in PAF service, which MaxDefense sources from even those involved in the Philippine Air Force's surveillance systems itself cannot confirm to be available, the PAF never had a UAV of the same size and capability as the Hermes 900, or even the smaller Hermes 450. If the ScanEagles aren't even really available, then the concept of UAV operations might be something the PAF is not really experienced and familiar with yet.

Despite some MaxDefense sources corraborating the reported ScanEagle UAVs in PAF service since some years ago, its still a shady and difficult to really confirm. So its also difficult to say if the PAF really has experience in operating drones, however simpler they are compared to the Hermes 900.
Credits to owner of photo.

So the ability of the PAF to absorb the new assets will be something worth looking at. How much support will Israel or Elbit Systems provide to the PAF to allow the smooth transition of PAF UAV operators to the platform? And how much time does it need for the PAF to be fully operational with these UAVs?

A good example can be seen on a neighbouring country, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), who has the most experience in ASEAN in operating drones as well as manned patrol aircraft. But based on open sources, it took them almost 5 years to be fully operational with their Heron 1 UAVs, despite operating smaller UAVs like the IAI Searcher since 1994. The IAI Heron 1, also from Israel, are slotted somewhere between the Hermes 450 and Hermes 90 in terms of size, endurance, payload and overall capability.

Meanwhile, the PAF has no operating manned surveillance aircraft with sensors except for the FLIRs mounted on the newly acquired AW-109E Power armed helicopters that the PAF has only been operating for 2 years. Also, RSAF has a more stringent training system and more experience than the PAF and yet it took them that long to attain that status.

It would be very disappoiting if the PAF won't be able to maximize the capability of its drones, or worse, damage or destroy them in an accident due to lack of experience.



Decision to go for a Single Platform:

No doubt the Hermes 900 is expensive, and only four units can be acquired with the budget allocated by the PAF. So is it really reasonable to just go for the Hermes 900?

MaxDefense's suggestion is to divide the acquisition to both the Hermes 450 and Hermes 900, as both systems are made to conduct different types of missions. Instead of 4 Hermes 900, MaxDefense recommends to acquire only 3 Hermes 900s, while converting the budget to buy the 4th unit to pay for the acquisition of the smalller, cheaper Hermes 450. Based on the above quotes we posted, at least 5 units of Hermes 450 can be bought for the same price as a single Hermes 900.

The Hermes 900, having more endurance, can be used to patrol the West and East Philippine Seas, as well as other areas in the country's EEZ. Meanwhile, the smaller Hermes 450 can be used for surveillance missions closer to ground, like in conflict areas like Marawi City, and in hunting terrorists in Mindanao and even other parts of the country.

Being from the same manufacturer and developed based on a single system, operating both the Hermes 450 and Hermes 900 would not be difficult as it would be almost seamless to cross over to the each other.

Compared to the newer Hermes 900, the Hermes 450 has been in service for more than a decade now and has been used in combat missions in the Middle East. Its been used by Israel, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Mexico, the UK (under the Watchkeeper Program), US Homeland Security, and closer to home, Singapore.

The Elbit Hermes 450, which is among those offered by Elbit Systems to the Philippine Air Force.
Credits to owner of photo.

Other Concerns:

MaxDefense recently reported that the re-tender for the Long Range Patrol Aircraft (LRPA) project has failed, with sources from the PAF and industry confirming that many of the interested proponents found the Approved Budget for Contract to be very low, and is simply not enough to acquire an aircraft with all the bells and whistles the PAF is requesting.

As of last week, MaxDefense was told that the PAF has yet to find a source for the additional budget for them to confidently start direct negotiations with interested proponents.

Instead of pouring too much on UAVs, is it not more practical to reduce the UAV budget and provide a little more for the LRPA project for it to start? Or is it more practical to use the budget to buy more LRPA instead?

The PAF wanted an ASW-capable Long Range Patrol Aircraft and has actually shown obvious preference to Airbus' C-295ASW, but budget is not enough. So why not more LRPAs by using some of the UAV budget?
Photo from Airbus' website.

Another issue is the wisdom of acquiring itself, isnthe Hermes 900 really the best choice for the Philippine Air Force?

Other UAV options are also available which, aside from surveillance capability, also can carry and fire small precision guided munitions for the same price as the Hermes 900. This includes the IAI Eitan (aka Heron TP), which can carry around 1,000 kilograms of precision guided munitions at almost the same price as the Hermes 900. Did the PAF consider them since they are also interested in acquiring Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) in the near future?

IAI's Eitan (aka Heron TP) is said to be priced similarly as the Hermes 900 and has almost the same capability except for also being capable of strike missions with its ability to carry and fire PGMs.
Credits to owner of photo.

There are other possible concerns that MaxDefense originally wanted to touch but decided not to (for now) until more information becomes available to us. It would be best to let the project take its course trusting the decision making of the Philippine Air Force and the AFP as a whole, considering this project was approved by Senior Leaders of the AFP and DND.

Nonetheless, any acquisition by the PAF of additional assets including medium altitude long endurance UAV platforms like the Hermes 900 is a welcome news, and would provide a leapfrog in capability and experience for the Philippine Air Force.

In the near future, MaxDefense will also be discussing the upcoming Philippine Army Unmanned Aerial Vehicle acquisition project, which is running almost simultaneously with the PAF's project.

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