rior to 1947, the Philippine
Air Force (PAF – Pilipinas
Hukbong Himpapawid)
was part of the country’s militia
and then its army air corps. On
July 1 of that year it became
a separate branch and was
initially equipped with P-51s,
followed by F-86s, T-33s and
T-34s. In 1960 the PAF took
part in the UN peacekeeping
mission in Congo. Four years
later it acquired 22 F-5A/Bs
under the US Military Assistance
Program, and during the 1980s
and 1990s Jordan, South Korea
and Taiwan provided a further 14
Freedom Fighters. The survivors
were retired in 2005. The PAF
introduced the F-8H Crusaderto service in 1977, in the form of
refurbished ex-US Navy examples.
All had been withdrawn by 1988.
The US government agreed to
sell 24 OV-10As to the Philippines
in 1991. The first five Broncos
were delivered to Colonel Jesus
Villamor Air Base on November
12 and were assigned to the
16th Attack Squadron – part of
the 15th Strike Wing – to replace
a diminishing fleet of ageing
AT-28Ds, which had arrived in
October 1974. In August 2003 a
first batch of four OV-10Cs arrived
from Thailand, and another four
were delivered the following year.
Meanwhile, six OV-10As were fitted
with new four-blade propellers
by Marsh Aviation and renamedThe Battle
of Marawi
Arnaud Delalande looks
at the development of
the Philippine Air Force’s
offensive capabilities
and how these were put
to use in the recently
concluded campaign
to liberate the city of
Marawi.P
Above: A 15th Strike Wing Bronco prepares to depart Danilo Atienza AB, in
Cavite. An initial batch of 24 OV-10As was supplemented by eight OV-10Cs
transferred from Thailand. Although only ten remained in service in 2017 they
were used in the Battle of Marawi.Armed with a seven-shot pod for
70mm unguided rockets, MD520MG
serial 15-507 ‘507’ is one of the
Defenders assigned to the 18th
Attack Squadron. These attack
helicopters have been widely used
to wrest control of Marawi from the
militants. All photos PAF96 // JANUARY 2018 #358 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com
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