Philippines eyes second Pohang-class corvette

A total of 24 ships of this class were built and commissioned by the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN) in four batches between 1984 and 1993. Of these, 10 are still in service with the RoKN, while several others have been transferred to countries including Egypt, Peru, Vietnam, and Colombia.

The Philippine Navy (PN) appears to be moving ahead with plans to acquire another retired South Korean Pohang-class corvette.

The vessel under consideration is ex-ROKS Andong (ex-PCC 771), which was withdrawn from RoKN service in December 2020.

If the transfer goes ahead, it will be the second Pohang-class corvette acquired by the PN from South Korea. The first, ex-ROKS Chungju (ex-PCC 762) , was transferred in 2019 and is now in Philippine service as BRP Conrado Yap (PS 39). According to local Filipino news outlet Inquirer , a PN delegation visited South Korea in early November and conducted a joint visual inspection of ex- Andong at the Jinhae naval base. The navy representatives assessed the vessel to be in reasonable operational condition, with local media reports suggesting a transfer could materialise by early next year. Following the commissioning of BRP Conrado Yap in 2019, the PN expressed interest in acquiring further ships of the class. This was reiterated by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in September 2020 when he spoke of the PN's desire to acquire two more Pohang corvettes that were being made available by South Korea. The Pohang-class corvettes are 88 m long and have a full load displacement of 1,220 tonnes. They are armed with 76 mm and 40 mm guns along with launchers for anti-ship missiles, light torpedoes, and depth charges.