Philippine Navy welcomes it's "most powerful warship" to date from South Korea

The Philippine Navy welcomed the arrival of its newly-acquired warship, the Po-hang-class corvette BRP Conrado Yap (PS39), with an official ceremony at the Manila South Harbor on Tuesday.

The warship, commissioned from South Korea, was named after a Filipino soldier who served in the Korean war as part of the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea. Yap, a Philippine Army captain, was considered as the most decorated Filipino soldier during the Korean war.

The 32-year old BRP Conrado Yap is regarded as the Philippine Navy’s “most powerful warship” to date because of its torpedo launchers and sonars that are capable of detecting submarine and other potential underwater threats.

The BRP Conrado Yap will be commanded by Capt. Marco Buena.

According to Buena, with the arrival of BRP Conrado Yap, we now have underwater detection capability. We can now detect submarines and other potential threats that we cannot see.

The Philippine Navy believes the addition of the heavily armed vessel will provide significant boost to its capability in patrolling and safeguarding the country’s territorial limits.

It will also serve as transition platform in empowering and upgrading Filipino sailors knowledge and skills in handling such high-level and advanced equipment/vessel especially with the impending delivery of modern frigates in the next two years, the Philippine Navy added.

The ship will partner with the new Agusta Westland 159 helicopters which are also capable of anti-submarine detection.

The corvette was Republic of Korea Navy ship Chungju (PCC-762).

It was turned over to the Philippine Navy during a commissioning ceremony held at Jinhae Naval Base in South Korea on August 5.

It set sail towards the Philippines on August 12, escorted by the BRP Davao Del Sur (LD602).

While on the way to Manila, the two vessels conducted naval maneuvers and other trainings.

The ships were also shadowed by a Chinese naval vessel, which according to Captain Richard Gonzaga, Commander of Naval Task Group 80.5, was a non-hostile encounter and just a part of a protocol when passing China’s waters.

Philippine Navy unveils new air and sea assets on their 121st Founding Anniversary

One of the major highlights in the celebration of the Philippine Navy’s (PN) 121st founding anniversary this year is the unveiling of its new and modern equipment.

PN’s latest acquisition were two Augusta Westland AW159 Wildcat anti-submarine helicopters purchased from the UK for 5.4 billion pesos.

These anti-submarine helicopters are armed with torpedoes which can be deployed once a submarine is detected loitering illegally within Philippine waters.  

The choppers will initially be part of two Del Pilar-class offshore patrol vessels of the Philippine Navy and will eventually be assigned to the two new frigates BRP Jose Rizal and Antonio Luna set to be delivered in 2020-2021.

The Philippine Navy also showcased their new Hanwha Defense Systems KAAV- 7A1 Amphibious Assault Vehicles from South Korea, purchased at 2.42 billion pesos.

These have the capacity to safely transport soldiers at sea to land with their state-of-the-art armor protection system.

Commander of the Naval Air Group (CNAG) Capt. Juario Marayag said this is a good addition to the Philippine Navy.

He added that the acquisition of these new naval assets is very synchronized with the mission of the Navy, “The Navy 2020”, “to be a more credible and stronger Navy”.

These new assets are part of the Part 1 Horizon Phase 1 of the revised AFP Modernization Program (RAFPMP).

Department of National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that the purchase of these naval assets will greatly enhance the Philippine Navy’s capability to defend our territories.

Philippine Coast Guard commissions last two 44-meter MRRV's from Japan

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commissions two new Multi-Role Response Vessels (MRRV), to be used primarily for disaster response, seas' oil pollution control and marine environment protection.

The BRP Bagacay and Cape Engaño have features such as fire monitors, night vision camera, radio direction finder, work boat and a bullet-proof navigational bridge.

The MRRVs have a standard cruising speed of 25 knots, and a range of 1,500 nautical miles.

Under the project terms, the MRRVs will be the primary rescue vessels within the PCG district’s area of responsibility (AOR) when the extent of the disaster is beyond the capability of floating assets deployed within the area; provision of assistance in the control of oil pollution and protection of the marine environment; enforcement of all applicable maritime laws within the designated AOR, particularly relating to illegal fishing and sea patrol; service as platform for rapid response during relief operations in the area; and transportation of personnel and logistical support.

BRP Bagacay under the helm of Commander Joel M Simo-ag PCG and BRP Cape Engaño under Commander Dennis Rem C Labay PCG as its Commanding Officers, were built by the Japan Marine United (JMU) Corporation in Yokohama, Japan.

The vessels were named after Lighthouse Bagacay in Liloan, Cebu and Lighthouse Cape Engaño in Palaui Island, Santa Ana, Cagayan respectively.

The acquisition of the vessels was implemented as an official development assistance via tied loan extended by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)