The Philippine defense ministry has selected South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) for a program to build two corvettes for the Philippine Navy.
The upcoming P25 billion deal (close to $500M), was reported in local media earlier this week, and could be signed before the year’s end.
HHI secured the deal after delivering two Jose Rizal-class frigates to the Philippines in the summer of 2020 and spring of 2021.
Although classified as corvettes, the new ships will be based on the HDC-3100 design proposed by the shipbuilder, which is larger than the HDF-2600 design the Jose Rizal-class ships are based on.
According to information and graphics previously shared by the company, the new corvettes will have more space for additional vertical launch system (VLS) cells, compared to the recently delivered frigates. They are also expected to be 7 meters longer at 114 meters, and around 500 tons heavier with a displacement of 3,100 tons.
Perhaps the most significant difference between the two acquisition programs is the fact that unlike the Jose Rizal-class, the new corvettes will not be bought under the “fitted for but not with” approach, which allows customers to buy ships first and specific capabilities later. All systems intended to be installed on the new corvettes already have their allocated funding.
