The acquisition of two missile armed
corvettes which were planned to backstop
the two brand new frigates acquired from Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) will likely
be pushed to horizon three of the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program (RAFPMP).
Defense
secretary delfin lorenzana said on
saturday the acquisition of the
corvettes is still being considered
albeit on a later date after our economy
recovers from this, coronavirus disease
2019 pandemic. Lorenzana said in a
message to the philippine news agency
when sought for updates on the
philippine navy's Corvette Acquisition Programme (CAP).
The CAP which is a budget of php 30
billion is envisioned as more heavily
armed and capable than the two Jose Rizal class missile frigates currently
being put into PN service. Horizon 3 is
scheduled for 2023-2028
while horizon 2 started in 2018 and will
end in 2022 is geared for the
acquisition of more equipment and
platforms, geared for external defense
like its predecessor program. Meanwhile
horizon one which started in 2013 from
2017 resulted in the acquisition of two
hamilton class cutters, renamed the dell
pilot class offshore patrol vessels, six MP ACS 114 armored personnel carriers, three brand new C209 medium lift
aircraft, two C 130 heavy transport
planes, five utility versions of the
augustus Landau 109 helicopters, eight of
its attack versions, five landing craft
heavies and 12 south korean FA-50 PH jet
fighters.
Earlier lorenzana said
modernization projects with contracts
and those already provided with funds
will push through while those lacking
contracts or funding might be postponed. The others might be postponed, depends on
that decision of that DBM department of
budget and management, he added.
Four foreign shipbuilding companies are
currently competing to win a php 28
billion u.s 555 million dollars contract
for two corvettes in the Corvette Acquisition Project (CAP) of the Philippine Navy (PN). The project is a part of the horizon 2
phase in the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Programme (RAF PMP) that started in 2018 and will end in
2022.
Turkey's state-owned asphalt has
proposed its modified ada class missile
corvette and istanbul class light
frigate for the PM. The eta class missile
corvette is a 100 meter long 2400 tons
displacement ship that can accommodate
up to 106 personnel. The istanbul class
light frigate is a 113 meter long has 3000 tons displacement and can
accommodate up to 125 personnel.
Netherlands daemon group is offering its
modular sigma-class multi-purpose
corvette frigate. The daemon group's
offers range from the 90 metres long
1700 tons displacement sigma 9113
corvette with a complement of 80
personnel to the sigma 10,514
a 107 meters 2,600 tons displacement
frigate that can accommodate 122
personnel. South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has the HDC 3100 project
on offer.
The HDC 3100 Class Corvette Frigate has a length of 114 meters a
displacement of 3,100 tons with a
complement of around 120 to 140
personnel. The HHIi's HDC 3100 offering is
an improved variant of the company's own HDF 2,600 frigate. In which two have been
sold to the philippines and commissioned
in the pn as Jose Rizal class frigates, in july 2020 and march 2021 respectively.
France's naval group's going 2,500 design
is also in the fray. The going 2500
design that the group has offered is a
102 meters long 2,500 tons displacement
with up to 80 personnel's complement. All
the companies are also offering an
assortment of the 76 millimeters caliber
naval gun, 30 millimeters automatic
cannons, a close-in weapon system, anti-ship missiles and a 16-cell Vertical Launch System (VLS) of
anti-aircraft missiles.
It still
remains to be seen whether the contract
will also include all of these weapons
installed or whether the ships will be
built in a Fit For But Not With (FFBNW) condition. It's also worth noting that
from these four companies HHI is the
only one that did not offer to build one
of the corvettes in the Philippines.
While the PN has put a requirement for
six corvettes in the current horizon two
phase the program has met with delays
and reduced funding due to the pandemic. The CAP still continues despite being
reduced to two corvettes. It is expected
that the contract will be signed before
the end of next year.
