Philippines releases information on Del Pilar-class frigate upgrade

The BRP Ramon Alcaraz (FF-16), second ship of the Del Pilar-class frigates of the Philippine Navy.
Photo c/o BRP Ramon Alcaraz's official social media page.

The Philippines’ Department of National Defense (DND) released a supplemental bid bulletin that provided information on the upgrade program for the Philippine Navy’s fleet of 3 Del Pilar-class frigates.
The project is for procurement via a limited source bidding, with Hanwha Systems, Saab Group and Ultra Electronics among those shortlisted.

The Del Pilar-class were formerly the Hamilton-class high endurance cutters of the US Coast Guard, which were transferred to the Philippines starting 2011.

The Philippine Navy embarked on improving the frigate’s command and control, and sensor capabilities, with the upgrade program requiring proponents to supply a new Combat Management System (CMS), hull mounted sonar (HMS), and Radar Electronic Support Measures (R-ESM), including integrated logistics support, test and support equipment, operation and maintenance training, and system integration with existing equipment and new government furnished equipment (GFE).

As for GFE, it was also confirmed that the Philippine Navy will be receiving the Saab AN/SPS-77 Sea Giraffe AMB 3D air and surface surveillance radar, FLIR Systems 230 electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) camera system, and a new Identification Friend of Foe (IFF) system. These equipment are coming from the United States and are acquired through the Foreign Military Sales / Foreign Military Financing (FMS/FMF) scheme.

The hull mounted sonar is required to be able to operate in passive and active mode in a low to medium frequency between 1 to 12 kilohertz,  with a detection range of at least 10 nautical miles.

Meanwhile, the CMS is required to be built using an open system architecture, with provision for future compatibility with the Tactical Data Link 16 and Link 22, as well as with the tactical data link of the upcoming Jose Rizal-class frigates being built for the PN by Hyundai Heavy Industries.

Based on previous documents presented by MaxDefense Philippines, the Jose Rizal-class’ tactical data link will the Hanwha Systems Link P, which will be derived from the Link K used by the South Korean military.

The bid opening is scheduled on No mention was made on the expected



[1] Department of National Defense Philippines
[2] Naval Today
[3] MaxDefense Philippines
[4] MaxDefense Philippines