PCG to deploy new air asset over WPS

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday announced that its newly acquired air asset, a Piper PA-31 Navajo, would be used for Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) flights over the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

- By EVELYN MACAIRAN

In a statement, the PCG also said that four of their new pilots have completed their transition training enabling them to command the Piper PA-31 Navajo that has tail number PCG-221.

The Coast Guard said the integration of PCG-221 into their Coast Guard Aviation Command (CGAvCom) fleet further enhances the maritime agency's mission readiness capability, especially amid the rising tensions in the WPS.

In recent years, the PCG has experienced harassment from the China Coast Guard that has been intruding in Philippine territory amid its continuous claim on the WPS.

"With additional aircraft and qualified aviators, CGAvCom is now more capable of conducting maritime domain awareness flights, sovereignty patrols, and rapid response operations across the nation's maritime zones," the PCG said.