The Philippine military has signed a contract with an Italian firm for the acquisition of three multi-purpose helicopters to boost its naval capability, the Defense Department announced Thursday.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin has signed the contract of three naval helicopters worth 1.33 billion pesos (32.3 million US dollars), the defense department said in a statement released Thursday.

Gazmin signed the contract with AugustaWestland SPA on December 20. The acquisition project was done through a negotiated procurement, it said.

Several other high-ticket items are in the pipeline for acquisition under the military's modernization program. These include more modern vessels and aircraft for the Navy and Air Force, the statement said.

In addition, a locally refurbished C-130 cargo plane will be commissioned to the Philippine Air Force (PAF) on Friday at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, Metro Manila, local media reported.

It's the third cargo plane to become operational since the military started to reverse the one-workhorse plane status, a project with a price tag of 579 million pesos ($14 million), the report said.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III signed earlier this month a new law which will extend the modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for another 15 years.

Under the new law, 75 billion pesos ($1.82 billion) will be allocated to the country's armed forces in the next five years to upgrade its military strength.