Portal partners
HHI will build two new corvettes for the Philippines
Author:Mariusz Dasiewicz
South Korean Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), signed on 28 December a contract for the construction of two 3200-tonne corvets for the Philippines worth PLN 28 billion (i.e. about USD 555 million).
HHI will provide both units according to the requirements of the Philippines by 2026. For HHI, it is another contract with the Philippines making it the main supplier of new naval battleships of that country. The previous agreement from 2016 concerned the acquisition of 2 frigates of type Jose Rizal. With the current HHI demonstrated the competitiveness of warship construction technologies and the benefits of defence-industrial cooperation between the Republic of Korea and the Philippines.
Due to COVID-19, the contract signing ceremony was held online. The meeting was attended by delegations of the Department of National Defence and the Navy of the Philippines and representatives of Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The new corvette will be a multitasking submarine with a displacement of 3200 tons, a length of 116 m and a width of 14.8 m. Maximum speed will be 25 knots, economic speed 15 knots, and range 4500 NM. The corvette is to have a 16-chamber vertical launcher, eight anti-ship missile launchers, 35 mm short-range artillery system, 76 mm caliber cannon, two three-tube torpedo launchers, and a multi-purpose radar with an AESA antenna.
Two serving Filipino frigate type Jose Rizal based on the frigate project HDF2600 (with a length of 107 m and a displacement of 2600 t) while new corvettes are to be based on a larger and more heavily armed project HDC3100 (with a length of 115 m and a displacement of 3100 t). The new corvettes will be minimally larger (range 116 m, width 14.8 m and displacement 3200 t) and will probably be equipped with ground-to-air missiles VL Mica production of MBDA and anti-shipper shells C-Star production of LIG Nex1.
In the Philippine procedure, Turkey France and the Netherlands submitted their offers with projects, respectively. MilGem, Govind and Sigma.
Written by TW
