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Philippine Navy has released fund project to acquire torpedoes for Jose Rizal-class frigates.
According to information released by the MaxDefense Philippines Facebook account, on April 6, 2021, the Philippine Navy has released Frigate Lot 3A - Torpedoes and Countermeasures Acquisition Project for the Jose Rizal-class frigates.
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BRP Antonio Luna Guided-missile Frigate of Philippine Navy. (Picture source Philippine Navy)
The Frigate Lot 3 Acquisition Project was divided into 3 sub-lots including Lot 3A for Torpedoes, Lot 3B for Chaffs, and Lot 3C for Acoustic Decoys. The Torpedoes will be acquired for the Jose Rizal-class frigates which are now in service with the Philippine Navy.
The BRP Jose Rizal FF-150 the lead ship of this class was commissioned in July 2020 and the second Rizal-class ship, the BRP Antonio Luna was commissioned in March 2021. The ships were built by the South Korean company Hyundai Heavy Industries based on the Incheon-class frigate but designed with specific requirements of the Philippine Navy.
The Jose Rizal-class is armed with one OTO Melara 76 mm Super Rapid naval gun, one ASELSAN SMASH 30 mm gun, four S&T Motiv K6 .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns, one Close-in weapon system (FFBNW), four LIGNex1 SSM-700K C-Star anti-ship missile on twin canisters, two MBDA Mistral Simbad-RC twin launchers, 8-cell Vertical Launching System (FFBNW) and two SEA triple torpedo tubes.
Citing MaxDefense Philippines Facebook account, previously we reported that the LIGNex1's K745 Blue Shark lightweight anti-submarine torpedoes are expected to be acquired under this project, that is already in service in service with the Philippine Navy, and was the selected torpedo model during the design phase of the Jose Rizal-class frigates.
The K745 Blue Shark torpedo is a light anti-submarine torpedo developed by the South Korean company LIG Nex1 for the Republic of Korea Navy. The torpedo has an operational range of 19 km at a maximum speed of 45 knots (83 km/h). She is fitted with an acoustic guidance system.
K745 Chung Sang Eo (Blue Shark) torpedo. (Source Wkipedia KIZILSUNGUR)