The Philippine Air Force (PAF) welcomed to its fleet Friday a newly refurbished C-130H aircraft from the United States that is expected to boost their operational capabilities.

Major General Florante Amano, PAF Vice Commander, led the arrival ceremony for the C-130H Number 5125 at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.
Immediately upon its arrival, the PAF rendered a welcome water salute to the cargo plane as a customary tradition given to all aircraft that are added to the PAF fleet.
The C-130H Number 5125 is the first of the two aircraft granted by the US government to the Philippines through a security cooperation assistance. The details as to when the second aircraft will be delivered is yet to be known.
"The aircraft will provide enhanced capability in terms of heavy airlift missions to support movement of troops and cargoes during territorial defense security and stability, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) operations," said Lieutenant Colonel Aristedes Galang, AFP spokesperson.
The C-130 aircraft is a four-engine turbopop plane that is primarily used for troop, medevac (medical evacuation), and cargo transport missions.
The arrival of the new aircraft came after President Duterte announced last week that he wanted to buy newer planes for the military after a series of crashes involving the older UH-1H Huey choppers.
Duterte had also expressed intention to decommission all Huey chopper in the PAF's fleet.
In the past six months, at least four military aircraft crashes have already been recorded by the PAF.
The latest incident occurred last January 16, 2021 when a Huey military chopper crashed while on a resupply mission in Impasug-ong, Bukidnon, killing all seven security forces onboard.