The system will act as the ship’s veritable “brain,” integrating various sensors, weapons, and communications equipment. Hanwha has extensive experience in delivering such systems, having equipped more than 80 ships with combat systems since the 1980s. The Republic of Korea Navy’s FFX-III and KDDX programs will also use combat systems developed by Hanwha.
The company has ramped up efforts to export combat systems to foreign navies in recent years. Just last month, it signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel Aerospace Industries to develop joint export strategies in the naval ship combat systems market.
Hanwha’s efforts have been particularly pronounced in the Philippines, with the company securing a contract to upgrade the combat systems of the Jose Rizal-class frigates in 2019. It also started construction on a new training facility for the Philippine Navy in November last year.
The new corvette being built by HHI for the Philippine Navy is a multi-purpose surface combatant with a length of 116 m and a width of 14.8 m. The ship will have a maximum speed of 25 knots, a cruising speed of 15 knots, and a range of 4,500 nm. The vessels will feature active electronically scanned array radar and a 16-cell vertical launch system. Other weapons systems include 8 anti-ship missile launchers, a 35 mm close-in weapon system, a 76 mm main gun, and 2 three-tube torpedo launchers.
Naval News comments:
The two in-service BRP Jose Rizal-class frigates are based on the “HDF 2600” Frigate design (107m, 2600t) by HHI while the new corvettes are based on the larger and heavier “HDC 3100” design (115m, 3100t). According to our information, the new corvettes are likely to be fitted with VL Mica surface-to-air missiles by MBDA and C Star anti-ship missiles by LIG Nex1.
