Future Philippine Navy Frigate
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | TBA |
| Builders: | Hyundai Heavy Industries |
| Operators: |
 Philippine Navy |
| Building: | 0 |
| Planned: | 2 |
| Completed: | 0 |
| Active: | 0 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Light Frigate |
| Displacement: | 2,600 tonnes (2,560 long tons; 2,870 short tons) |
| Length: | 107 m (351 ft 1 in) |
| Propulsion: | Four (4) diesel engines in Combined Diesel and Diesel (CODAD) configuration |
| Speed: |
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| Range: | 4,500 nautical miles (8,330 km) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Electronic warfare & decoys: |
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| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 1 x Leonardo AW-159 Wildcat Anti-Submarine Helicopter |
| Aviation facilities: |
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A class of two stealth frigates is to be built for the Philippine Navy, the ships are the derivatives of HDF-3000 frigate design from Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) with design specifically accommodated to fit the requirements of the Philippine Navy. The contract has been signed between the Philippine's Department of National Defense, Armed Forces of the Philippines, and Philippine Navy high command officials, Hyundai Heavy Industries executives, and the South Korean ambassador to the Philippines on October 24, 2016 at the Headquarters, Philippine Navy in Roxas Boulevard, Manila. The ships will be 107 meters long with a displacement of 2,600 tonnes.[1]
Development
First Stage Bid
In May 2013, the Department of National Defense opened the "Frigate Acquisition Project" for the acquisition of two brand new frigates for the Philippine Navy with the contract price of Php 18 billion (around US$437 million as of May 2013), after rejecting the decision to procure two Maestrale-class frigates from Italy due to preference to acquire new ships. The tender was a two-stage bidding system, with proponents needing to pass the initial bid stage by meeting the minimum requirements set by the program, before finalizing their offers and submit for the second and final bidding.[2]
Seven bidders participated in the first stage bid, namely Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) of India, STX France SA, Navantia SA of Spain, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) of South Korea, STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. of South Korea, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) of South Korea, and ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) of Germany.[3] Initially only four shipbuilders qualified, with GRSE, STX France, and TKMS disqualified for failing to meet documentation requirements. A Motion for Reconsideration was provided by GRSE and STX France, which were accepted by the DND Bids and Awards Committee.[4]
Pre-Second Stage Bid Changes
With six proponents passing the first stage bidding phase, successive meetings were held with the Philippine Navy, wherein the DND found out restrictions in the export of munitions through third party shipbuilders. This paved the way for the split of the project into two lots by August 2014:
Lot 1, with an Approved Budget for Contract (ABC) worth Php 15.5 billion (around US$348 million as of August 2014), covering for the platform (ship hull and all working components, guns, and missile and torpedo launchers; and
Lot 2, with an ABC worth Php 2.5 billion (around US$56 million) for munitions, missiles, and torpedoes.[5]
Delays were encountered from 2014 to 2015 due to funding issues, with then Pres. Benigno Aquino III gave the DND the authority to enter into Multi-Year Contracts (MYC),[6] while also approving the remainder of the project list submitted in 2013 by the Armed Forces of the Philippines under its AFP Modernization Program Horizon 1 Phase (2013-2017), which includes the Frigate Acquisition Project.[7]
Second Stage Bidding
A new Supplemental Bid Bulletin for the project's Lot 1 second-stage bidding was released by the DND on February 2016, with an updated technical specifications provided for the proponents to follow and the schedule for the Submission of Bids and Opening of Envelopes (SOBE).[8] The updated specifications was understood to be more detailed, and included improved features over the initial technical specifications provided during the first stage bidding. The ABC was also increased to Php 16 billion (around US$355 million) to cover for the peso's declining value over the US dollar, and to allow the improvements of the ships' key features.
Of the six proponents that passed the first stage bidding phase on 17 March 2016, only four submitted their bids for the second stage bidding phase: South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), Spain's Navantia SA, and India's Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE). STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co.'s bid submission was rejected after submitting beyond the deadline, while STX France SA did not submit a bid.[9]
Of the four bids, only the bids of GRSE and HHI were deemed compliant, while DSME and Navantia's bids were disqualified for failing to meet documentation requirements. No Motion for Reconsideration were submitted by the two shipbuilders. Also, the DND Bids and Awards Committee confirmed GRSE, which offered a platform based on their Kamorta-class large ASW corvette design with a bid value of Php 15.047 billion, as the lowest bidder. HHI, which offered their HDF-3000-based frigate design with a bid value of Php 15.744 billion, was named as the second lowest bidder.[9]
Post Bid Qualification and Contract Awarding
As part of the procurement process, the lowest bidder will undergo a post-qualification inspection wherein members of the bids and awards committee and the project management team will conduct inspections at the proponent's office and shipbuilders, and confirm the submissions provided including their account books.
The joint DND-PN team conducted the post-bid qualification inspection of GRSE on June 2016, wherein they found that it did not meet financial requirements, specifically the Net Financial Contracting Capacity (NFCC), which gave the DND-PN team a reason to conduct a post-bid qualification inspection with the second lowest bidder, HHI. This was done and completed on July 2016, wherein the team found that HHI was able to comply with the requirements and was considered the Lowest Post-Qualified Bidder while declaring GRSE as Post-Disqualified.[10]
A Notice of Award with the amount of Php 15,744,571,584.00 (around US$336.912 million) was released by the DND and awarded to HHI on August 2016, which initiated contract negotiations between the DND-PN and with HHI from September to October 2016.[10][11]
On 24 October 2016, the contract to supply two brand new general purpose stealth frigates was signed between the Department of National Defense, represented by Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana, and Hyundai Heavy Industries, represented by its Senior Vice President Mr. Ki Sun Chung, under the presence of officials from the DND, AFP, PN, HHI, and the South Korean Ambassador to the Philippines. On the same day, HHI released a computer generated image of the frigate in their website, and released information about the dimensions of the ships.[12]
Weapons
Based on the specifications provided by the DND,[8] the frigate will be armed with the following weapons:
- a primary 76mm gun with 120 rounds/minute capability;
- a secondary gun between 30-40mm caliber, on a remote stabilized mount;
- at least four anti-ship missile systems with a minimum range of 150 kilometers and a minimum speed of Mach 0.8;
- two twin launchers for anti-aircraft missiles, with a minimum range of 6 kilometers, with IR or semi-active homing seeker;
- two triple trainable lightweight torpedo launchers with torpedoes, with a minimum range of 2,000 meters, with active, passive, or mixed homing guidance and an operating depth between 10 and 600 meters deep
- four heavy machine guns
Aside from the included weapons, provisions are also required for the following weapons:
- for a close-in weapons system;
- for an 8-cell vertical launch system (VLS) with a
This was later on identified as the following:[10][13]
- an Oto Melara 76/62 Super Rapid primary gun;
- an MSI Defence Seahawk RCWS 30mm secondary gun;
- two twin launchers for LIGNex1 SSM-700K C-Star anti-ship cruise missiles;
- two twin Simbad-RC launchers for MBDA Mistral short range anti-aircraft missiles;
- two triple trainable launchers for LIGNex1 K745 Blue Shark lightweight ASW torpedoes;
- four heavy machine guns, possibly M2HB 12.7mm/50 machine guns
See also
References
- ↑ Rahmat, Ridzwan (24 October 2016). "Hyundai discloses further details of Philippine Navy's new frigates". IHS Jane's.
- ↑ Montero, Max (2 May 2013). "An In-Depth Look at the Philippine Navy Frigate Program of 2013 (1st of several parts)". MaxDefense Philippines.
- ↑ Fish, Tim (2 April 2014). "Philippines advances frigate project". Shephard Group.
- ↑ "Phillipines allows Indian Govt. Ship-builder to bid for frigate programme". DefenceNews.in. 6 May 2014.
- ↑ Romero, Alexis (10 August 2014). "DND to spend P15 B for two ships, P2.5 B for ammunition". Philstar.net / The Philippine Star.
- ↑ "Aquino authorizes P44-B multiyear defense contract". GMA News. 28 November 2015.
- ↑ Romero, Alexis (14 September 2015). "Noy approves AFP modernization shopping list". Philstar.net / The Philippine Star.
- 1 2 "Supplemental Bid Bulletin Nr. DND/PN-FAP-16-01 (Frigate Acquisition Project)" (PDF). Department of National Defense. 2 February 2016.
- 1 2 Romero, Alexis (1 April 2016). "Indian firm offers lowest bid for P16-B Navy frigates project". Philstar.net / The Philippine Star.
- 1 2 3 Montero, Max (3 September 2016). "The Philippine Navy's Future Frigate from Hyundai: Discussing the Ship's Design and Some of its Expected Subsystems". MaxDefense Philippines.
- ↑ Rahmat, Ridzwan (2 September 2016). "Hyundai wins USD337 million frigate contract from Philippine Navy". IHS Jane's.
- ↑ "Hyundai Heavy Industries Wins an Order to Build Two 2,600 ton Frigates for the Philippine Navy". Hyundai Heavy Industries (Press Release). 24 October 2016.
- ↑ Arthur, Gordon (24 October 2016). "Philippines seals deal for frigates". Shephard Media Group.
- Montero, Max (24 October 2016). "Finally, the Contract Signing for 2 New Light Frigates between Philippine Navy and Hyundai Heavy Industries". MaxDefense Philippines.
- Montero, Max (7 February 2016). "The Philippine Navy's Frigate Acquisition Program Finally Moves in 2016! New Technical Specification Released and Tender Soon". MaxDefense Philippines.