BRP Gabriela Silang 8301 (all photos : Christophe Dedieu) The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)’s newest and largest vessel, which will be known as BRP Gabriela Silang is expected to arrive from France in February 2020. An earlier report from PCG says that the said vessel will start voyage to Philippines today, December 30. A change of flag ceremony was held on December 18 marking the turn over of official ownership to the Republic of the Philippines.
The vessel, an 83-meter offshore patrol vessel, was built by French shipbuilder OCEA. “The ship is designed for voyage and operations in rough sea condition,” PCG said. PCG noted that BRP Gabriela Silang will be put into service for sustainable presence at sea to increase the PCG patrols in the Philippine Rise and West Philippine Sea since it has a maximum range of 8,000 nautical miles and can patrol up to 22 days long at sea. (Mintfo)
BRP Jose Rizal FF-150 (photo : MaxDefense) MANILA -- BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150), the country's first missile frigate, performed well during its second sea trials, which took place last December 15 to 18. "The second sea trials (were conducted) with satisfactory results," said Philippine Navy (PN) public affairs office chief, Lt. Commander Maria Christina Roxas, in a message to the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Tuesday. During the testing period, Roxas said systems like the ship's propulsion console, freshwater generator, and steering gear were tested. Also, the frigate's propulsion system was tested and checked for vibration. Likewise, the ship's turning circle when at the maximum design speed of 25 knots and rudders being shifted to "hard left and hard right progressive speed" was determined, the PN official added. Roxas said the BRP Jose Rizal was made to undergo zigzag and spiral maneuvers along with crash stop ahead (full astern to full ahead) and crash stop astern (full ahead to full astern) along with another vibration measurement test. The ship's S and X band radars, which are for surveillance and targeting applications, were also tested along with the frigate's fuel consumption at 85 percent of "maximum continuous rating" or maximum speed. BRP Jose Rizal has a maximum designed speed of 25 knots and a cruising speed of 15 knots and a range of 4,500 nautical miles. The first sea trials, which were conducted in the waters of Ulsan, Busan, and Mokpo last November 23 to 27, had the frigate performing well even at Sea State Condition 4 where waves are known to reach between four to eight feet. It was conducted to check the ship's performance and general seaworthiness. "(Present during the 2nd sea trials) are PN representatives, (ship-builder) Hyundai Heavy Industries QM (quality management) technicians, OEM (original equipment manufacturer) engineers and Lloyd's Register of Shipping inspector," Roxas earlier said. For the third and fourth sea trials, which are still to be scheduled, this will be more on testing the ship's various weapons systems, she added. The sea trials are the last phase of construction before the frigate’s delivery to the Philippines scheduled tentatively in April or May 2020. This took place six months after the vessel was launched at the HHI shipyard for the first time in Ulsan last May 23. "The PHP8 billion warship is a big-ticket acquisition of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that is poised to be the benchmark of PN’s transformation journey," Roxas earlier said. Incidentally, BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151), the sistership of BRP Jose Rizal, was launched in the same facility last November 8. The contract for the two ships is placed at PHP16 billion with another PHP2 billion for weapon systems and munitions. These ships are capable of conducting Anti-Air Warfare (AAW), Anti-Surface Warfare (ASUW), Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Electronic Warfare (EW) Operations and it is fully equipped with Surface-to-Air and Surface-to-Surface Missiles, torpedoes, launchers, and weapon systems. The activity signifies that the PN is inching closer to its dream of acquiring highly capable warships. Its crew and maintenance personnel are currently undergoing training in South Korea. Roxas said the BRP Jose Rizal provides leverage for the Navy’s bid of becoming a stronger and more credible force that the Philippines as a maritime nation can be proud of. (PNA)
PAL offered new design on its SSV 123m (all images : PAL) Opening Bidding For the Landing Docks Acquisition Project which conducted the Bid Submission and Opening last 26 November 2019, the lowest bidder was local shipbuilder Megaship Builders Inc., which is joint-ventured to a Malaysian shipbuilder, Sing Kiong Hong Dockyards Sdn Bhd. The problem is, Megaship Builders or even its joint venture partner Sing Kiong Hong Dockyards has never built a Landing Platform Dock-type ship before. Both companies appear to have no experience either in installing, integrating and supporting military equipment and subsystems. But they were able to join the bidding because the Philippine Navy's TWG simply required bidders to have experience in building ships of around 7,000 tons or higher displacement, without specifying on the type of ship they built before.
In short, it is the Philippine Navy's fault that such was able to join and even become the lowest bidder for the project due to their vague and incomplete details on the technical specifications and requirements. Post Bidding While Megaship Builders Inc. - Sing Kiong Hong Dockyards JV was the lowest bidder for the Landing Docks Acquisition Project of the Philippine Navy, it appears that they might have hit a wall during the Post Qualification Inspection (PQI) stage which was conducted this month. And based on information MaxDefense received after posting the news on Megaship Builders - Sing Kiong Hong Dockyards JV being the lowest bidder for the project, it appears that they failed the Post Qualification Inspection (PQI) due to financial and technical reasons, which may have included their lack of experience in building an LPD-like vessel or military transport vessels of similar size and design.
If the joint venture was Post-Disqualified, it means that the second lowest bidder will be given the chance to steal the show. And in this case, the second lowest bidder is Indonesian state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL (Persero), which was the builder of the Tarlac-class LPD already in use with the Philippine Navy. It now remains to be seen if PT PAL will be able to pass the Post Qualification Inspection to be conducted by the DND-Bids and Awards Committee (DND-BAC) and Philippine Navy Technical Working Group (TWG). PT PAL previously passed the PQI for the Strategic Sealift Vessel (SSV) Acquisition Project, which means PT PAL has experience in how PQIs are done, and how to pass it. Should PT PAL pass the PQI, it would become the basis for the release of Notice of Award (NOA), which in turn will lead to PT PAL receiving the contract for the project.
A win by PT PAL is also advantageous to the Philippine Navy, as both parties already had previous working experience in building similar ships, and PT PAL's offered design is actually an improved version of the Tarlac-class. This means the retention of design which will make commonality and logistics support simpler and more efficient, compared to having a different LPD design from the existing ones the Philippine Navy already operates. MaxDefense just hopes that the Philippine Navy would be able to improve further on the ship's design, considering they failed to include improvements on helicopter deck capacity to allow future helicopters of the Philippine Air Force, which may include medium and heavy lift helicopters like the Russian Mi-17 Hip and American CH-47 Chinook helicopters. Here is images from video posted by PT PAL of what it could be offering to the Philippine Navy. Take note that items not included in the technical requirements will not be delivered by the winning shipbuilder, including the 76mm Super Rapid main gun, CIWS, etc.
PMC want to add 16 more AAVs from the 8 that already have (all photos : MaxDefense) MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Navy hopes to get additional amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs) and multi-purpose attack craft (MPAC) in a bid to further enhance its modernization efforts. Navy chief Vice Adm. Robert Empedrad said they would need 16 more AAVs as it aimed to acquire two more strategic sealift vessels in addition to its two existing units.
“With the force mix of six AAVs per strategic sealift vessel, we need additional 16 AAVs since we will acquire two more strategic sealift vessels,” Empedrad said at the Navy headquarters in Manila.
“The versatile AAVs not only enhance by large ship-to-shore capabilities of the Philippine Marine Corps but can also provide combat firepower in different types of terrain as well as protection of Marine warriors,” he said. (PNA)
Elbit System Lizard precision guided bomb (photo : MaxDefense) Elbit Systems' Lizard laser guided bomb kit system is among those being considered for use by the Philippine Air Force for its future fleet of A-29B Super Tucano, and possibly its existing fleet of FA-50PH Fighting Eagle and future Multirole Fighters. It was among those displayed during the recent anniversary celebrations of the PAF's 15th Strike Wing. (MaxDefense)
2 batteries of Israeli Elbit 155mm Self Propelled Howitzer was selected by DND (photo : Globes) The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has approved the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) for the 155mm Self-Propelled Howitzer Acquisition Project for Philippine Army under the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program. The SARO (SARO-BMB-D-19-0025732) has an amount of PHP 339,867,865.00 to cover the 15% advance payment for the said project. DBM approved the SARO on December 18. (Mintfo)
BRP Gabriela Silang 8301 (all photos : Christophe Dedieu)
