Philippines To Get Two Cessna 280B ISR Aircraft Soon

The United States is expected to deliver two Cessna 208 aircraft with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in “couple of weeks”.

The Cessna 208B ISR variant carries an electro-optical sensor pod and other surveillance equipment.

The US envoy to the Philippines Ambassador Sung Kim told Karen Davila in ANC’s Headstart July 18 edition that delivery will be “soon, in a couple of weeks” for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) activities.

Kim added that these aircraft are fitted with “very useful ISR equipment”.

L-3 Communication Corporation was awarded a contract in May 2016 to convert Cessna light single-engine turboprop aircraft to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms under the foreign military sales program to the Philippines. It is scheduled to be completed by September this year, according to the awarded contract details.

The Cessna 208 Caravan is a single-engined turboprop with fixed-tricycle landing gear built by the Cessna Aircraft Co. in Wichita, Kan. The plane has a Pratt & Whitney PT6A-140 turboprop engine that can carry the aircraft at speeds to 185 knots and altitudes to 25,000 feet. It has Garmin G1000 avionics with GFC700 integrated digital automatic flight control system.