Department of National Defense signed contract to buy two new frigates.
The Department of National Defense (DND) has inked a contract worth P15.7 billion with a contractor based in the Republic of South Korea for the two brand new warships for the Philippine Navy.
The contract was entered by the national government with the Hyundai – South Korea.
This is the first big-ticket item entered into with a foreign supplier by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte which started on June 30.
Raymundo Elefante, DND Undersecretary for Finance, Munitions, Installations and Material said, the contract was signed by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Monday.
“This is the first time for our Navy to have a modern frigate, and it will be additional, of course, to the fleet as part of our modernization,” he said.
Elefante did not elaborate about the specific details when the frigates would be finished and when will it be delivered to Manila.
However, it was cleared that armaments that would be installed is not included on the said contract, as this would be a separate one.
The frigates would be added assets of the mission of the Philippine navy to patrol and defend the country’s territorial waters, especially in the West Philippine Sea.
The said ocean is claimed by China, despite the ruling of the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) debunking Beijing’s controversial so-called “9-dash line” claim in the South China Sea.
The two frigates ordered by the government from South Korea are smaller but inherit main design features of South Korea’s Incheon class ships.
According to Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the design is based on the company’s HDF-3000 multipurpose frigate design. It features an overall length of 114.3 m, and has been used as the basis for the Republic of Korea Navy’s (RoKN’s) Incheon (FFX-I)-class guided-missile frigates.
Instead, the platform for the Philippine Navy will feature overall length of 107 m, a standard displacement of about 2,600 tonnes, and an operational survivability up to Sea State 5.
