The Philippine Department of National Defense (DND) disclosed on 10 August that it has selected suppliers for the torpedo and countermeasure systems meant for use by the Philippine Navy's (PN's) two José Rizal-class guided-missile frigates.
The DND issued a ‘Notice of Award' (NoA) to South Korean company LIG Nex1 for the planned procurement of an undisclosed number of torpedoes for PHP766.3 million (USD15.9 million). The move is meant to provide the multirole frigates with an additional anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability alongside that provided by the Leonardo AW159 Lynx Wildcat helicopters set to operate from the vessels.
The Philippine DND has selected South Korean company LIG Nex1 to provide torpedoes for use by the PN's José Rizal-class frigates. Janes understands that the NoA issued by Manila on 10 August is for the procurement of Blue Shark torpedoes (similar to this one). (LIG Nex1)
While the selected torpedo type was not disclosed, a company official told Janes on 20 August that the proposed deal is for K745 Cheong Sangeo (Blue Shark) lightweight, anti‐submarine torpedoes. This is the same torpedo type that is set to be deployed with the Lynx Wildcat helicopters.
Each of the two frigates is equipped with two triple 324 mm torpedo launchers.
The department also issued two more NoAs, both of which involved the procurement of countermeasure systems. One of the notices states that the Rheinmetall Denel Munition joint venture was selected to provide PHP348 million worth of chaffs, while the other pointed to the selection Naval Group to provide acoustic decoys worth EUR6.3 million (USD7.4 million).
No further details were provided about the countermeasure systems.
The PN commissioned its first frigate of the class, BRP José Rizal (FF 150), in July 2020, while the second, BRP Antonio Luna
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