Austal's OPV design for the Philippine Navy. Photo c/o Austal. |
The Philippines' Department of National Defense (DND) confirmed that they are close to finalizing a Government to Government deal with Australia for the acquisition of six (6) offshore patrol vessels (OPV).
Philippine Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana visited Australian shipbuilder Austal's shipyard in the Philippines, where he confirmed that they are in advanced talks with the Australian government to acquire OPVs from Austal.
Should this push through, the ships will be built in Austal's Philippine shipyard, and would use an enlarged, improved version of the shipbuilder's Cape-class patrol vessels.
According to Filipino defense page MaxDefense Philippines, the DND has allocated Php30 billion (US$588 million) for six OPVs, which will replace legacy ships from World War 2 era that the Philippine Navy still use.
According to MaxDefense, it is expected that the OPVs will be at least 80 meters long, and armed with a 76mm Oto Melara naval gun, two secondary 25mm or 30mm guns, and has space for anti-ship missiles. It would also have a helideck for medium helicopters, a quick access system for rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB), and space for containerized mission modules including somar, mine countermeasures, and unmanned systems.
Austal alresdy released their OPV design for the PN during last year's ADAS 2018 defense exhibition in Manila, which appears to follow the description above.
[1] Philippine News Agency
[2] MaxDefense Philippines
[3] Austal
This is good news. After all Australia will benefit also of this patrol vessels by preventing criminals entering Australia. This is far better than what the Australian donated boats decade ago.
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