HHI launches second and final José Rizal-class frigate for Philippine Navy

South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has launched the second and final José Rizal-class multirole frigate on order for the Philippine Navy (PN).

The 107.5 m-long warship, which will be known as BPR Antonio Luna (pennant number 151) once commissioned, entered the water at HHI’s facilities in the southeastern coastal city of Ulsan on 8 November in a ceremony attended by Philippine Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines General Noel Clement.

HHI launched Antonio Luna , the second and final José Rizal-class multirole frigate for the PN, on 8 November. (Philippine Navy)

The 2,600-tonne vessel, which was laid down on 23 May, is scheduled to be handed over to the PN between September and October 2020, while delivery of first-of-class José Rizal (150), which was launched that same day, is expected to take place between April and May 2020.

The ships are derivatives of the HDF-3000 frigate design, which is a smaller version of the Incheon (FFX-1) frigate class operated by the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN).

Both vessels were ordered by Manila under a PHP16 billion (USD316 million) contract awarded to HHI in 2016, with an additional PHP2 billion set aside for weapon systems and munitions, according to the state-owned Philippine News Agency (PNA).

The PN pointed out in a statement that the new vessels, each of which is armed with two 324 mm triple-tube torpedo launchers as well as surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, are capable of carrying out a variety of missions, including anti-air surface (AAW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), anti-submarine warfare (ASW), and electronic warfare (EW) operations.

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