Indonesian President Joko Widodo, during a bilateral meeting in Malacañan on Wednesday sought President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. support for the purchase of anti-submarine aircraft from Indonesia. Enquirer reported that during the meeting, the two Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders discussed several topics, including border control and defense. Widodo, however, did not mention the specific aircrafts. Indonesia offer comes amid rising tensions in the West Philippine Sea, as China continues to encroach on Philippine territory. While Marcos mentioned that he and Widodo discussed the South China Sea situation, he provided no further information.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has procured two AW159 Wildcat anti-submarine helicopters including an AW159 Wildcat chopper, which can detect and strike any submarine illegally entering Philippine waters. The Philippines plans to procure four more anti-submarine choppers in the coming years. The CASA/IPTN CN-235 is a medium-range twin-engined transport aircraft that was jointly developed by CASA of Spain and Indonesian manufacturer IPTN (now PT Dirgantara Indonesia, PTDI). CN235-220 aircraft is a proven platform to perform broad spectrum of special missions including search and rescue (SAR), Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) control, marine pollution prevention and control, maritime surveillance and security, Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW), and Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW).
“I also seek Your Excellency’s support related to the purchase of anti-submarine warfare aircraft for the Philippine Navy from Indonesia. I’m delighted about positive progress about the implementation of our 2 countries’ action plan which needs to be followed up with concrete steps to strengthen collaboration especially in 2 areas of cooperation. I welcome the strengthening of cooperation on border security including on joint patrols, but there are many things still to be improved. Separation of continental boundaries need to be pushed,” said Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
In December 2008, South Korea announced that Indonesian Aerospace’s bid had triumphed over four rival submissions, and thus it would order four CN-235-110 MPAs to equip the South Korean Coast Guard with; these aircraft, delivered in 2011. The Royal Malaysian Air Force has operated a fleet of CN-235 transports. During early 2020, it was announced that several Malaysian aircraft would be converted into a maritime surveillance configuration using financial assistance from the United States. On 17 June 2022, the Royal Malaysian Air Force receive the first of three such modified CN235-220M MSA as part of the Malaysian Maritime Security Initiative program. During 2018, the Senegalese Air Force ordered two MPA-configured CN-235s, the first of which was received in 2021.
