Multi-Purpose Assault Craft (MPAC) of Philippine Navy gearing up to be capable of using "Swarm Tactic" in protecting the Archipelago

MANILA, Feb. 4-- Six MPACs (Multi-Purpose Attack Craft) currently in service in the Philippine Navy are scheduled for an upgrade that will make them more capable in carrying out their various missions.

Navy spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Fabic confirmed this plan but said that no details are available yet on what the upgrades will consist.

 "The PN has plans for upgrade for the current fleet of MPACs but we have no details yet on what it will consist," he said.

Observers however said that this may consist of installation of more advanced radar and sensor equipment and possibly of more longer range weaponry.

The MPAC is capable of operating in territorial waters up to "Sea State 3" (slight waves) without any system degradation and can cruise in shallow waters like a boss. It is armed with one .50 caliber and two 7.62mm machine guns and can carry 16 fully-equipped Marines/NAVSOG or two tons of cargo.

see also: Philippine Navy's Multi-Purpose Attack Craft or MPAC led the rescue efforts in Cebu

The so called "Mosquito Fleet" during World War II were consist of hundreds of motor torpedo boats (PT) completed between 1942 and 1945 by Elco Naval Division of Electric Boat Company at Bayonne, New Jersey. Wooden-hulled, 80 feet long with a 20-foot, 8-inch beam, the Elco PT boats had three 12-cylinder Packard gasoline engines generating a total of 4,500 horsepower for a designed speed of 41 knots.

Photo courtesy of www.freerepublic.com

Early Elco boats had two 20mm guns, four .50-caliber machine guns, and two or four 21-inch torpedo tubes. Some of them carried depth charges or mine racks. Later boats mounted one 40mm gun and four torpedo launching racks. Many boats received ad-hoc refits at advanced bases, mounting such light guns as Army Air Forces 37mm aircraft guns and even Japanese 23mm guns. Some PTs later received rocket launchers.

Photo courtesy of www.timawa.net

One of the most famous PT Boat operators was our very own Commodore Ramos Alcaraz. Alcaraz operates the later version of PT boats converted into gunboats by stripping the boat of all original armament except for the two twin .50 caliber gun mounts, and then adding two 40mm guns and four more twin .50 caliber machine guns, later named Q-Boats. Alcaraz became famous during WWII after he had shot down three Japanese dive bombers as Captain of a zig-zagging "Q112-Abra" in Manila Bay facing Bataan and Corregidor.  As a result, the war planes failed to bomb their shore objectives.

On 6 May 2012 during the 70th commemoration of the Fall of Bataan, President Benigno Aquino III announced the naming of the ex-USCGC Dallas to BRP Ramon Alcaraz to honor his service for the country.

With: (PNA) SCS/PFN