MANILA: The Philippine air force grounded its OV-10 Bronco bomber planes yesterday after one crashed at sea but other aircraft were available for possible counterinsurgency strikes, an official said.
Air force spokesman Col. Miguel Okol said seven of the turboprop planes were grounded following the crash of an OV-10 late Sunday while preparing to land in southwestern Palawan province after a routine training flight. It was not immediately known if the two pilots survived. Authorities hope they managed to eject before the plane crashed.
Search teams have found parts of the plane, including a wheel, cargo bay door and tail cone, at sea about 10 km from the Palawan airport, Okol said.
President Benigno Aquino III has struggled with limited funds to try to modernize the military, one of Asia’s weakest, by acquiring new aircraft, warships and weapons with the help of Washington, a longtime ally.
The OV-10s, developed in the 1960s, have been used in the past to assault Muslim rebels and guard Philippine claims in disputed South China Sea areas off Palawan.
Philippines grounds bomber planes after crash
Philippines grounds bomber planes after crash
British navy says it tracked Russian sub for three days in Channel
- The Russian ships had arrived from the North Sea and entered the Channel.
- “Expert aircrew were prepared to pivot to anti-submarine operations if Krasnodar had dived below the surface,” the statement said
LONDON: The British navy said Thursday it tracked a Russian submarine navigating through the Channel for three days, as it steps up efforts to police its seas against such threats.
A British naval supply ship with an on-board helicopter was deployed to track the stealthy Kilo-class submarine Krasnodar and the tug Altay, the Royal Navy said in a statement.
The Russian ships had arrived from the North Sea and entered the Channel.
“Expert aircrew were prepared to pivot to anti-submarine operations if Krasnodar had dived below the surface,” the statement said.
But it sailed on the surface throughout the operation, despite unfavorable weather conditions.
Near the island of Ouessant, off northwest France, the British said they handed over monitoring of the vessels to a NATO ally, without saying which one.
The British military carried out a similar shadowing operation in July, after spotting the Russian sub Novorossiysk in its territorial waters.
Defense minister John Healey announced on Monday the launch of a multi-million pound program to improve the Royal Navy’s capabilities in the face of Moscow’s “underwater threats.”
According to London, Russian submarine activity in British waters has increased by about a third over the past two years.
In early December, the UK and Norway signed a cooperation agreement to jointly operate a fleet of frigates to “hunt down” these submarines in the North Atlantic.
