Hyundai Heavy Industries Building Advanced Naval Escort for the Philippines

Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has started to build a 2,600-ton frigate for the Philippine Navy.

The company held a ceremony on May 1 to celebrate the start of construction at its headquarters in Ulsan with the participation of HHI president Kang Hwan-koo; Delfin Lorenzana, secretary of the Department of National Defense of the Philippines; De Vera Elefante, undersecretary of the Department of National Defense of the Philippines; and Robert Empedrad, head of the Philippine Navy.

The frigate is a multi-purpose battleship with a length of 107 meters and a width of 12 meters. It is the first of the two naval escorts that HHI will build for the Philippine Department of Defense. The company received the order in October 2016.

The escort flaunts a speed of 25 knots (46 km/h) with a cruising range of more than 4,500 nautical miles and can carry out patrolling missions in the open sea. It is designed to have excellent operational performance in rough sea conditions such as typhoons and tropical climate.

The frigate will be loaded with 76mm guns, ship-to-air missiles, torpedoes, helicopters and other weapons systems that enable it to carry out anti-aircraft and anti-submarine operations.

HHI will complete the first ship in May next year and deliver it to the Philippine Department of National Defense in the second half of 2020. The company will start the construction of the second frigate in September this year and deliver it in the first half of 2021.

Hyundai Heavy Industries has built the main naval vessels of the Korean Navy, including aegis ships, KDX-II destroyers, helicopters, frigates and submarines. It built the first Korean naval vessel "Ulsan" in December 1980. The company have also won many orders from overseas countries including the Philippines, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Venezuela.