Defense Minister Jorge Luis Chavez, accompanied by Peruvian Navy General Commander Admiral Luis Polar Figari, supervised the arrival of BAP Pisco vessel in the Port of Callao, which carried six SH-3H Sea King helicopters and spare parts transferred from Spain to the Peruvian Navy.
The transfer was achieved through a
Disposal Agreement signed between the
Spanish Ministry of Defense and the
Peruvian Navy on May 19, 2023 in Madrid, within the framework of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministries of Defense of both countries, which was inked in November 2018.
Minister Chavez remarked that the helicopters, which were sold to Peru for a symbolic price, will increase the operational capacity of the Sea King aircraft owned by the Peruvian Navy.
"This will enable it (the Navy) to conduct all operations along the coast, not only search and rescue operations, but also those that could help our population in situations where assistance is needed," he said.
The government official explained that these helicopters will be very useful during emergency situations that may arise due to El Niño phenomenon, noting that they may be used for transfer of humanitarian aid, transfer of personnel, and evacuations.
It should be pointed out that these second-use aircraft were transferred for a symbolic price of 100 euros each. Two of them can fly, while the other four are out of service, but contain 305 associated spare parts packages.
For his part, Admiral Luis Polar stated that the aircraft will be transferred to the Callao Naval Air Base to enter an evaluation process.
After that, four units will be put into operation using spare parts transferred from Spain and those extracted from aircraft owned by the Peruvian Navy.
(END) NDP/RMCH/RMB
Published: 9/10/2023