Philippines’ Diego Silang Frigate Welcomed

THE Philippine Navy (PN) formally welcomed the second Miguel Malvar-class frigate, the future BRP Diego Silang at Naval Operating Base Subic. Built by South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the Navy’s newest and most advanced guided-missile frigate was received by Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) General Romeo Brawner Jr., PN Flag Officer in Command (FOIC) Vice Admiral Jose Ma. Ambrosio Ezpeleta and other top officials.

“BRP Diego Silang is a symbol of our nation’s resolve to defend what is rightfully ours, to stand firm in the face of challenges, and to demonstrate our readiness to safeguard the interests of our people. This vessel represents our relentless pursuit of a more capable and credible Philippine Navy. It reflects years of hard work, planning, and cooperation with our allies and partners. “It also speaks volumes of the unwavering support of the Philippine government for the AFP as we face evolving security challenges in the West Philippine Sea and beyond,”Gen Brawner said.

According to the PN, the 3,200-tonne warship is set to undergo final preparations, acceptance procedures, and commissioning before officially joining active duty. It was launched at HHI’s shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea on March 27.

Taking the namesake of a Filipino revolutionary hero, the Diego Silang is the sister ship of the BRP Miguel Malvar was commissioned in May. The ships were ordered in December 2021 in a US$483 million deal and reinforce the PN’s guided missile frigates BRP Jose Rizal and BRP Antonio Luna.

Both vessels are equipped with state-of-the-art armaments and sensors to be employed against surface, sub-surface and aerial targets including a 3D Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. The ships have 16-cell vertical launching systems (VLS) which are armed with MBDA’s VL MICA surface-to-air missiles (SAM), a 76mm main gun, a twin-barrel 35mm Aselsan Gokdeniz close-in weapon system (CIWS), and South Korean SSM-700K C-Star anti-ship cruise missile (ASM).–shp/adj/dl (Pix:AFP)