MANILA, Philippines -- U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Y. Kim turned over a Scan Eagle Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) to Secretary of National Defense Delfin N. Lorenzana during a transfer ceremony at Villamor Air Base, Pasay City, on March 13.

Ambassador Kim and officials from the Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group delivered this PhP 687 million ($13.2 million) system to the Philippine Air Force through the Foreign Military Financing grant program in order to increase the Philippine military’s maritime domain awareness, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) and counterterrorism capabilities.

The Scan Eagle UAS will provide unmanned intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) 300 Air Intelligence and Security Wing (AISW), who will operate the aircraft out of Antonio Bautista Air Base, Palawan. 300 AISW is the AFP’s leading unit for air ISR operations.

“The transfer of the Scan Eagle to the ‘unmanned’ ISR group and the transfer of the two Cessna- 208Bs in July 2017 to the ‘manned’ ISR group represent our strong commitment to enhance the capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” Kim said during the ceremony.

The United States, as a longstanding ally of the Philippines, continues to provide support to the AFP through both grant assistance and expedited sales of arms and munitions to assist both long-term AFP modernization goals and urgent counter-terrorism and HADR requirements.