All things are looking up for the Philippine Navy(PN).
Long have been regarded as having the oldest and most ill-equipt, and
weakest navy in Asia, a far cry from its glory days in the 1960’s where most of
its ships and equipment’s were donated from the United States of America and
other friendly countries.
Decades of neglect, finally the Armed Forces of the
Philippines is giving the much needed boost for reclaiming the pride and glory
days of one of its major branches. Through the years, the PN has slowly been
upgrading its decent Philippine fleet and now we can see the changes.
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| The two brand new AugustaWestland AW159 "Wildcats" anti-submarine warfare(ASW) helicopters is due to be delivered to Manila in 4Q of 2018 and early 1Q of 2019, it reported to be armed with the Israeli-made Spike NLOS (non-line-of-sight) missiles.The Wildcats will be deployed aboard the two frigates the Philippines ordered from South Korea.(photo credit to owner) |
The government controlled Philippine News Agency has
published in its website that there will be two (2) major deliveries this year
for the Philippine Navy.
Department of Defense spokesperson Arsenio Andolong has barred when sought for an update on other
deliverable items for the PN this year.
First among the deliverables is the highly anticipated Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd's Spike ER (extended range) missile systems from Israel ,which will be fitted on three of the Navy's brand-new multi-purpose assault craft (MPAC) which was activated last May 22, 2017.
The weapons are on anti-ship mode meaning it can engage surface vessel targets and is capable of penetrating 1,000 mm (39 inches) of rolled homogeneous armor and has a maximum range of five miles.
The exact dates for the delivery of the Spike ER (extended range) missiles and its platforms was not divulged for security reasons , Spokesperson Andolong said the missiles would be delivered to the country "very early in the first quarter of the year."
The missiles and launchers were supposed to be delivered by December of 2017 but this did not materialize due to some transportation issues with the supplier from Israel.
The delivery of which will mark the first time the Philippine Navy will have missile capability. *
Second on the delivery list for the PN are the two (2) brand new AgustaWestland AW-159 "Wildcat" anti-submarine helicopters which are expected to arrive the last quarter of 2018 and early 2019, Andolong added.
Andolong did not further elaborate on what weapons and surveillance systems the AW-159s would be carrying for security reasons.
The above-mentioned anti-submarine helicopters will be based on the two frigates on order from Hyundai Heavy Industries of South Korea.
The AW-159 is an improved version of the Westland Super Lynx military helicopter.
The “Wildcat” has a crew of two, has a maximum speed of 291 km/h (181 mph), range of 777 km (483 miles), ferry range of 963 km (598 miles) and an endurance of one and a-half hours (fours hours and 30 minutes if fitted with an auxiliary fuel tank).
Report from PNA
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