Department of National Defense' Multirole Fighter Jet Package Proposal, Explained

The budget hearings in the bicameral chambers of Congress presented several interesting insights relating to the plans, programs, and prospects that the Department of National Defense has in improving the capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in both firepower and logistical areas, addressing the challenges on both territorial defense and immediate deployment in the times of calamity.

Information that has provided in the said budget hearings are a mouthful that it does not simply get accomplished in a single writeup, but several highlights deserves to provide a full context on the vision that the Department of National Defense lies on its long-term capability improvement, especially on the ones set for the Philippine military. One of those visions delves into the most discussed acquisition project of the Philippine Armed Forces to date, which is the Philippine Air Force's plans of securing the purchase for its multirole fighter jets.

THE BUDGET HEARING

The Department of National Defense aims to get a full package for the Philippine Air Force's Multirole Fighter Jet Acquisition.
Sources of Images from Efrain Noel Morota (upper left), SAAB (upper right), Wikimedia Commons (lower left), German Air Force (lower right)

The multiple budget hearings that the Department of National Defense has before both chambers of Congress - in the House of Representatives and the Senate  - presented an insight into how the department will set its direction in the upcoming years. 

One of the interesting tidbits from this is their proposal to repeal Republic Act 10349, or the Revised AFP Modernization Law, and instead have its acquisition project funding done through a project-based scheme. The proposal to repeal deserves its own set of discussion.

At that specific budget hearing done together with the Senate Committee on Defense, Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr highlighted the concerns relating to its current budgetary position, casting doubts that the fiscal room provided is small for the department to push for other projects under the Revised AFP Modernization Program, highlighting primarily to the purchase of the Multi-Role Fighter Jets of the Philippine Air Force, together with its associated packages.

When asked about how much money the Department of National Defense needs in buying the fighter jets for the Philippine Air Force, Secretary Teodoro highlighted that the project requires a budget of around Php 400 billion, even more if included other components that form part of the ‘multirole fighter jet package proposal’ of the department. 

The said components refer to what the defense department wants to include in the project - the Midair Refueling Tankers and Airborne Warning and Control System or AWACS.

After the budget requirements got presented, the next question delved into the number of squadrons that the Department of National Defense seeks in providing for the Philippine Air Force’s multirole fighter requirement, in which the defense secretary in return said that the budget is for the purchase of at least three (3) squadrons of the multi-role fighter jets of the Philippine Air Force. For context, a single squadron comes with twelve (12) fighter jets, with a full three (3) fighter jet squadron being at thirty-six (36) units.

The rationale of this bold and expensive undertaking of the Department of National Defense’s presentation for the multirole fighter jet package delves primarily to the long-term vision it entails, or what the Secretary of National Defense believes as a real force boost for the Philippine Air Force, rather than relying on a single squadron of the same multirole fighter jets, labeling them as a ‘token purchase’ that does not present real impact to the country’s territorial defense deterrence efforts.

Revisiting it again, the Philippine Air Force’s multirole fighter jet acquisition project is an active, ongoing acquisition project that is getting competition with the following aerospace companies that aims to secure the bid of getting the contract - US-based aerospace company Lockheed Martin and the F-16 Viper Block 70/72 variant, Sweden’s SAAB and the JAS-39 Gripen Block E/F variant, and the newest entrant being the Leonardo Eurofighter 2000 Typhoon Tranche 5. 

This discussion will not cover much about the multirole fighter jet candidates for this deal, and instead will cover more on the following key features, which is on the number of squadrons that the Department of National Defense aims to get in this arrangement, the inclusion made for both the Airborne Warning and Control System and Midair Refueling Tankers, the financing schemes and perks that aerospace companies offer, and the advantages and disadvantages this proposal entail to the deal in its entirety.

NUMBER OF SQUADRONS

The number of multirole fighter jets alone plays a role in an effective air defense deterrence.
From AIIRSOURCE Channel, YouTube.

The first contention in the budget hearing discussion between the Senate committee for defense and the Department of National Defense regarding the acquisition of Multi-role Fighter Jets for the Philippine Air Force is with the number of fighter squadrons that the said department aims to get in a single transaction. What followed is a clear and concise statement from the Secretary of National Defense, fully specifying that they aim to get at least three (3) fighter squadrons at one go.

The number specified is the clearest one ever provided from the Department of National Defense, and is also the most recent one that define the multirole fighter jet package proposal that they aim to get, with the support of the Congress, together with the Department of Finance and the Department of Budget and Management in coming up either with a creative financing scheme, or an increased budgetary allotment to make this highest valued military purchase to date possible.

For context, a squadron of fighter jets within the Philippine Air Force stands at around twelve (12) units, as this is at best exhibited with how the Fifth Fighter Wing organizes the batch sales of the Korean-made FA-50s that it made through the years. 

First in 2015 and then in 2025, the air service branch of the Philippine Armed Forces always has its eyes fixated into securing at least twelve (12) units of fighter jet per batch, as it comes clearly given with the orders made for the FA-50 Lead-In Fighter Trainers.

Carrying it over to the multi-role fighter jet package proposal, and the picture comes clear that the Department of National Defense aims to get at least thirty-six (36) multirole fighters or three (3) squadrons of twelve (12) each per squadron of multirole fighters, or forty (40) multirole fighters if we based from their previous statements regarding the project. The numbers provided provide an ideal setup, where there are at least thirty-six (36) single-seater multirole fighter jets and four (4) dual-seater conversion trainer jets.

Of course, having such a large number for an order of multirole fighter jets that counts as the most unprecedented one in the country’s defense history also comes with a heavy price tag, one that cast doubt whether the deal might push through as the history of budgetary allotments released for the Department of National Defense or the Revised AFP Modernization Program can only fund military projects at an extent, that the numbers presented only come as ‘piecemeal’ at best.

To be fair with the people in the Department of National Defense, getting this project funded in one go, either through an overhauled legislation on foreign borrowings or by a boosted annual defense budget, gives a significant boost worth counting as a great leap for the modernization efforts of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, rather than relying on ‘token’ accomplishments that is to get a squadron of multirole fighter jets and call it a day, with the Philippine Air Force getting the minimum number.

As the thirty-six (36) multirole fighter jets isn’t enough for a package proposal pushed by the Department of National Defense, the next part of the discussion will also include other crucial parts of what count as a comprehensive air defense solution, where networked nodes with up-to-date shared critical information gives added capabilities for the proposed fighter jets, one that clearly means giving additional eye in the sky that can detect threats coming from afar.

AIRBORNE WARNING AND CONTROL SYSTEM (AWACS)

SAAB has the Erieye AWACS as part of its offer for the JAS-39 Gripen E/F variant of the Philippine Air Force.
Image Source.

The package for multirole fighter jets, as what the Department of National Defense is proposing, does not limit to just the number of fighter jets alone but also includes other military assets that give more eyes in the sky, an integrated networked system that coordinates updated movements of the air force belonging to the foreign adversary in the patch of an airspace that count as the current area of operations at the time that a mission gets carried out.

That ‘added eyes in the sky’ component refers to having the Airborne Warning and Control System or ‘AWACS’ included in the package, one that comes with advanced radar and other related sensors onboard that can detect upcoming threats, whether it might be an enemy fighter aircraft or an upcoming missile that might pose a threat against critical facilities that the Philippines have scattered across the country, passing through and entering inside the Philippine airspace.

Being the one that has a full vision of the airspace domain, the Airborne Warning and Control System is also the one responsible to coordinate multirole fighter jet pilots as a command-and-control component into conducting operations that involves targeting both ground and aerial targets at a long distance given its deployment. 

This extra capability adds up to the force package presented by the Department of National Defense as a necessary part of the Philippine Air Force’s multirole fighter jet purchase.

As the idea of including AWACS to the force package of the Philippine Air Force comes into mind, so does the number of candidates that might likely end up in the Philippine Air Force’s inventory, depending on which of the candidates for the project will come up as the winner to the project. As for SAAB, there is a likelihood that they will offer the SAAB Erieye multi-domain AWACS that will come alongside the JAS-39 Gripen E/F offer, itself likely to use the SAAB 340 aircraft as its primary platform of choice.

SAAB’s own AWACS solution that itself produces comes as an advantage compared to its competitors in the Philippine Air Force’s multirole fighter jet acquisition program, as other aerospace companies like Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) does not have its own produced AWACS platform at the time this article publishes. For Lockheed Martin, while it produces the ‘AN/APY-9 radar’ for the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye AWACS aircraft, the AWACS product itself is actually from Northrop Grumman.

For Korea Aerospace Industries, it currently does not have its own AWACS product at the time this article has published, although a combination of AWACS from other suppliers might come together with its KF-21 Boramae deal with the Philippine Air Force shall things be pushed through. One thing that comes to mind is once again SAAB’s GlobalEye AWACS offer, as there is a memorandum of understanding between SAAB and KAI regarding this arrangement.

With the AWACS platform included in the Multirole Fighter Jet package that the Department of National Defense wanted for the Philippine Air Force to have as part of an integrated systems-based air defense suite, the variation of solutions depends on the preferable candidate for the project, with SAAB clearly in the advantage of providing this type of platform as an integrated package, as they are the only one among aerospace companies taking part that can produce its own AWACS aircraft.

MULTI-ROLE TANKER TRANSPORT (MRTT)

Depending on the package, AWACs like the Airbus A330 MRTT have the chance to be on the Philippine Air Force's inventory of support aircraft.
This is a U.S. Air Force photo by Christian Turner, Wikimedia Commons

The next component that the Department of National Defense presents as part of the multirole fighter jet acquisition program package of support system is the one that ensures that each fighter aircraft gets extended operational support all throughout the mission operations, and even beyond the capability of each unit’s onboard fuel tanks which means extended operational time and range as required in a solidified air operations. Entering the scene is an aerial refueling aircraft.

Also known as a multirole tanker transport aircraft or just simply a tanker aircraft, this unit plays a key role in extended air operations of a multirole fighter jet, as its purpose is to replenish operating aircraft with jet fuel through a rigid boom system or a flexible probe-and-drogue system, depending on the aircraft that come with either of the said two (2) mid-air refueling configuration. Notable examples of such aircraft are the Airbus A330 MRTT (Multirole Tanker Transport) and Boeing KC-46 Pegasus.

This is where Lockheed Martin and Eurofighter (via Airbus) have an advantage in offering an aerial refueling aircraft as part of the multirole fighter jet package, whereby the former already has the tanker variant of the C-130 aircraft known as the KC-130J, in use by the likes of the United States Marine Corps for their aircraft operations. 

The only concern with this offer is that the KC-130J comes with a flexible probe-and-drogue system, while the F-16 Viper it offers has a mid-air refueling design with a rigid boom system in mind.

The incompatibility between the KC-130J aerial refueling tanker aircraft and F-16 Viper fighter jets in terms of the mid-air refueling systems incorporated onboard can get mitigated with the F-16s coming with receptacles that enable the aircraft to have mid-air refueling capabilities compatible with the KC-130J aircraft, enabling Lockheed Martin to offer both the KC-130J and the F-16 Viper as part of its own multirole fighter jet package that the Department of National Defense seeks on.

Another competing entity is the Eurofighter consortium, where Airbus is a member itself, although the Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 5 multirole fighter offer for the Philippine Air Force goes through another aerospace company, which is through the Italian-based firm named Leonardo. 

With the Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 5 coming as a product of the consortium that Leonardo and Airbus are both members of, inserting the Airbus A330 MRTT in the offer makes sense for its own MRF package offer.

Airbus and its A330 MRTT come with a rigid boom system that is more compatible with the F-16 Block 70/72 Viper offer of Lockheed Martin, as compared to the KC-130J tanker aircraft that comes with the flexible hose and drogue system. 

It is also compatible with the KF-21 Boramae that Korea Aerospace Industries or KAI offered to the Philippine Air Force, as the Republic of Korea Air Force also operates the passenger jet-inspired Airbus aircraft for its own operational requirements.

With both the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) and aerial refuel tankers included in the multirole fighter jet package, along with the Department of National Defense’s aim into getting at least three (3) squadrons of fighter jets in one go, the next part of the discussion will involve one of the largest hurdles that they will face amidst the plans into modernizing the capabilities of the Philippine Air Force in one go, one that involves the availability of budget and similar financial schemes. 

CREATIVE FINANCING SCHEME

The Honorable Secretary of National Defense's statement on the creative financing scheme as proposed before the country's private sector.
From the Department of National Defense Facebook Page.

To resolve the problem that surrounds the financial hurdles that will help support the Philippine Air Force and the Department of National Defense’ comprehensive multirole fighter jet package, they are pushing on an amendment in legislation that would enable them to secure soft loan and similarly crafted financial arrangement from foreign governments and institutions, basically enabling them to secure the purchase of the entire deal as presented by different aerospace candidates in the project.

One idea that comes from this hurdle is the proposed enactment of the Department of National Defense transformation bill, which aims to have a provision that points on the defense spending of the entire department, including those for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to have an allotment increase until it reaches at least 2% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product or GDP as a measuring stick for its annual budget, with an additional provision that there will be adjustments in every ten (10) years.

With the proposed enactment of the Department of National Defense transformation bill is the call to repeal the Revised AFP Modernization Law or the Republic Act 10349, on which the Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro said that the law has ‘outlived’ its purpose in supporting the capability improvement projects of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The said law, while providing sufficient support in improving the capabilities of the AFP, said that its efforts come ‘insufficient’ as technology paces on.

Aside from the Department of National Defense Transformation bill, another piece of legislation that is also being looked at is on the revisions in the Presidential Decree No. 415, known as the ‘Authorizing the Secretary of National Defense to Enter Into Defense Contracts to Implement Projects Under the Self-Reliance Defense Programs and For Other Purposes’. This legislation has a provision that limits the amount allowable for the Philippine government to avail the soft loans and similar arrangements for defense.

Under the said presidential decree, the limiting factor lies in Section 3, clearly detailing that the Secretary of National Defense can only undertake soft loans, supplier’s credit, and other arrangements relating to the purchase of expensive military hardware under this financial scheme type at the limit of around Three Hundred Million United States Dollars or US$ 300,000,000.00 or Php 17.4 Billion if based on the January 1, 2026 exchange rate of US$1.00 - Php 58.00.

This means that the Philippine military cannot go beyond the said amount into taking a soft loan or similar financial arrangement without undertaking amendments of the said Presidential Decree, which also means that the efforts undertaking for the Revised AFP Modernization Program is always at the mercy of the yearly enactment of the General Appropriations Act and its allotments to the Revised AFP Modernization Program. Such a scheme is insufficient given its annual record of limited budget allotments.

Its approval is crucial in the ongoing modernization efforts of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as the said Presidential Decree comes as a limiting factor for the Department of National Defense in getting multi-billion soft loan arrangements that can secure needed military hardware like the multi-role fighter jets and submarines. Lacking the support for this proposal will hamper the efforts to improve the Philippine military’s capability to provide the needed deterrence for its territorial-level defense posture.

ENDING NOTE

Italian arms supplier Leonardo actively markets the Eurofighter Typhoon 2000 to the Philippine Air Force.
Image Source.

At the time this article publishes, the 2026 General Appropriations Act introduces a special provision for the Revised AFP Modernization Program, enabling the Secretary of National Defense to undertake soft loan arrangement and similar schemes when buying expensive military hardware, which means this topic relating to multirole fighter jet packages that the Philippine Air Force and the Department of National Defense aspires to get is now slowly getting its way into reality.

It also means that the government might give a way to secure loans well beyond the limits provided under the Presidential Decree 415, while being compliant to the said decree by having the loans approved by both the Office of the President and the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or BSP. 

That will give all the needed support that the Department of National Defense needs in securing not only the aforementioned MRF package but also other equally expensive ones such as the Philippine Navy submarines.

This also correlates to the Philippine Air Force’s expanded interest on the KF-21 Boramae fighter jet produced by Korea Aerospace Industries, as it has the potential to have an expanded capability for a full-fledged multirole fighter jet, as its technological path includes integration of such capability under the Block II phase of the program. 

Currently, the KF-21 Boramae’s capability is limited to the air superiority role entailed from its original Block I phase of the entire development of Korea’s own indigenous stealth fighter.

The delivery dates that the Philippine Air Force seeks if the KF-21 Boramae deal pushes through, give a clear suggestion that there is a high likelihood that the said service branch might secure this deal, giving a way for them to secure a more capable fighter aircraft than the FA-50 light fighter trainer it currently operates and is now adding more squadron on the fleet, as this is the ideal path or ladder for end-users that uses military aircraft produced by the likes of Korea Aerospace Industries.

Another potential deal that comes with soft loans is the one with Leonardo regarding the Eurofighter Typhoon 2000 Tranche 5, as the Italian financing firm SACE met with officials of the Department of National Defense as a way of advancing its marketing of the capable fighter aircraft made by the consortium that Leonardo belongs, aside from its marketing of providing after-sales and logistical support for the aircraft once the Philippine Air Force decides in getting this multirole fighter jet.

Take note that revising Presidential Decree No. 415 is still needed, especially that permanently fixing it will give assurance for the national government to undertake defense deals under an affirmative provision that will allow the Department of National Defense to secure soft loan arrangements and other structured schemes. This will enable them to secure more expensive big-ticket projects, as what the multirole fighter jet package aims to secure.

Ultimately, getting the comprehensive multirole fighter jet program in motion, with assurances from the budgetary perspective, will ensure that the Philippine Air Force receives the boost it deserves to get, especially in this period where the current status quo in the Indo-Pacific region gets actively challenged by a regional power whose aim is on illegally securing the country’s EEZ domain. 

Getting the needed tools and in preparation, the country is in a better position to ensure the territorial defense posture it aims to have.

(c) 2026 PDA

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Leonardo's Eurofighter Offer And Their Support to the AFP Modernization

The following information comes from an official release made by a European Aerospace Company, with the offer being one of the fighter jet that come as part of the consortium and now entering as one of their official candidate for the Philippine Air Force's multirole fighter jet acquisition program.

German Luftwaffe's Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet.
Image Source.

Leonardo reaffirms support for the Philippines’ defence modernization and future-ready capabilities

PRESS NOTE

The global aerospace and defence leader highlights its commitment to advancing national security, operational readiness, and local capability development.

Philippines, 09/12/2025 - Amid the Philippines’ renewed push for rapid technological adaptation, specialized expertise and stronger interoperability to support a credible defence posture, Leonardo has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the country’s capability development and long-term modernization goals. The global aerospace and defence leader headquartered in Italy expressed its readiness to help the Philippine government invest in technologies, skills, and systems that enable a more resilient and future-ready Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“Leonardo, as part of Eurofighter Consortium, stands ready to support the Philippines as it moves toward a more capable, self-reliant, and unmatched deterrence posture,” Tommaso Pani, SVP Marketing and Sales, Aeronautics division of Leonardo, said in a statement. “Our approach is anchored on long-term partnership built not only on trusted performance, but also on meaningful investments in local capability, skills development, and national growth.”

Trusted Partner for a Future-Ready AFP

For decades, Leonardo has supported the Philippines’ defence and security requirements across air, land, sea, and cyber domains. Its long-standing collaboration with the Department of National Defence reflects the company’s commitment to enhancing national security and contributing to the country’s evolving operational needs.

This established partnership underpins Leonardo’s proposal for the Philippine Air Force’s multirole fighter acquisition program, designed to strengthen air superiority, improve multi-domain awareness, and enhance future force readiness.

Leonardo’s global reputation is built on technological innovation, mission reliability, and multi-domain expertise. The Eurofighter Typhoon program, developed with leading European defence partners Airbus Germany, Airbus Spain and Bae Systems, exemplifies this standard through its combat-proven performance, interoperability, and resilience.

Backed by the Eurofighter Partner Nations Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom, the Eurofighter proposal draws on Leonardo’s comprehensive expertise, including support and training, and is structured around a collaborative framework that ensures transparency, strong governance, and alignment with the Philippines’ modernisation priorities.

Building National Capability and Economic Value

Beyond delivering advanced systems, Leonardo’s proposal emphasizes long-term national contribution. The plan includes technology transfer, training for Filipino engineers and pilots, participation of local industry, and the potential establishment of a Eurofighter logistic and training hub in the country.

These initiatives aim to create sustainable jobs, strengthen local expertise, and empower the Philippines to play a larger role in the regional aerospace ecosystem. Through this approach, Leonardo and its industrial partners reinforces their roles as trusted defence partners, providing solutions that enhance operational readiness while generating broader economic and industrial value.

= = = = = = = = = = 

Pitz Defense Analysis Note:

The release serves as Leonardo's official entry to the Philippine Air Force's multirole fighter jet acquisition program, competing directly against aerospace companies that already took part in the bidding process, namely Lockheed Martin, SAAB, and Korea Aerospace Industries. Their offers are the F-16 Block 70/72 Viper, the JAS-39 Gripen E/F variant, and the KF-21 Boramae.

This comes as the Philippine Air Force reportedly expressed its interest in getting the KF-21 Boramae of Korea Aerospace Industries as its mainstay multirole fighter jet, as they already provided the reliable FA-50 lead-in fighter trainers for the 5th Fighter Wing to operate and secure the country's airspace, with an additional twelve (12) units of this type have recently ordered for this purpose.

As the Department of National Defense now change into a multirole fighter jet package model in securing this project, along with the proposal that they are seeking a budget of Php 400 Billion for the purchase of the multirole fighter jet project under this scheme, it is still uncertain yet promising for companies like Leonardo to push this offer, although their offer stands a chance, especially with the offer presented by the company that will benefit the Philippine Air Force and the broader scope of the ongoing modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Given that the multirole fighter jet package model also comes with other equipment like the Airborne Warning and Control Systems or AWACS and refueling tankers, there lies an uncertainty with the model of aircraft presented in this scheme, although it is clear from Leonardo that they are offering the fighter aircraft that come as a mainstay platform among the countries in Europe, majority if not all the users in the continent being a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO.

At the end, it will be at the discretion of the leadership within both the Philippine Air Force and the Department of National Defense to take a second look into this offer and to make consideration on the terms presented, of which it defines whether there is a likelihood that the 5th Fighter Wing will end up getting fighter jets like the Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 5 or not.

(c) 2025 PDA.

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The Transfer of Abukuma-class Destroyer Escorts to the Philippine Navy

Increasing the fleet size is among the top priorities of the Philippine Navy, aside from its recent purchases of modernized naval assets that have recently produced in a South Korean shipyard. 

As commendable as it is in buying new assets that are now forming a significant portion of the naval service branch's Offshore Combat Force, another class of ships from another country next door is likely getting on its way to the fleet, as part of the agreement between the two governments.

FROM THE NEWS REPORTS

JS Sendai (DE-232) forms part of the six (6) Abukuma-class destroyer escorts of the JMSDF.
Image Source.

Before this news broke out, the attention of the Filipino defense community gets fixated into other developments relating to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, specifically with the commissioning of the BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-06) into the fleet as a full-fledged guided missile frigate during the Philippine Navy anniversary that took place on May 20, 2025. As the celebratory event comes with the addition of the ship, along with two (2) Acero-class vessels, a more exciting event will come in the months to come.

Several months later, on July 6, 2025, Japanese news outlet Yomiuri revealed the first details of what will be a game-changing moment for the capabilities of the Philippine Navy. 

This refers to the revelation that both the Philippine and Japanese governments have reached a finalization in their agreement to the exportation of what will probably be all the six (6) Abukuma-class destroyer escorts currently in service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force at the time this article publishes.

In the said news report from this Japanese news outlet, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force or JMSDF poses to decommission all of its six (6) Abukuma-class destroyer escorts, and is likely to get replaced by the newer Mogami-class frigates that Japan ordered on its local shipbuilding entities like the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. In the agreement, the export aims to improve interoperability between the Philippines and Japan relating to maritime security matters.

This will count as the recent defense transfer made by Japan to the Philippines to-date, with the other being the transfer of TC-90 trainer aircraft to the Philippine Navy in 2017, and Japan’s first successful defense sale to the Philippines through its export of J/FPS-3ME and J/TPS-P14ME surveillance radars that now operates to ensure security of the Philippine Air Defense Identification Zone or PADIZ. The transfer of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts to the Philippine Navy will probably be the largest one to-date.

As the Abukuma class likely getting transferred to the Philippine Navy counting as the largest boost both to its firepower and numerical capabilities once succeeded, the following details discussed under this topic will primarily delve to its production and service history, along with the usual information relating to its specifications with its subcomponents within the JMSDF service, and the likely upgrades that the ships receive upon entry to the Philippine fleet composition from 2027 onwards.

THE HISTORY

The Abukuma-class destroyer escorts came as a replacement for the older Yubari-class destroyer escort.
Image from Wikimedia Commons.

As the Philippine Navy sets into finalizing the agreement that will transfer all ‌six (6) Abukuma-class destroyer escorts from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force or JMSDF, let us trace back its history, from when the vessels have designed down to its shipbuilding and eventually its service within the JMSDF. At a glance, the vessels came with anti-submarine warfare in their design, and the capabilities they will have will help the Philippine Navy’s own mandate.

From the beginning, the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts came as part of the JMSDF’s evolution of improving its fleet with capable vessels that came according to its specifications and requirements of that time. 

The vessels, introduced in the late 1980s to early 1990s, came as an improvement over the fleet’s other destroyer escort class, which is the Yubari-class destroyer escort. The 1980s-era Yubari-class design does not satisfy the JMSDF, giving birth to the new Abukuma-class destroyer escort development.

The lead ship, the JS Abukuma (DE-229), had launched in 1988 as part of Japan’s efforts to improve its destroyer escort fleet that covers the shortcomings of the earlier Yubari-class destroyer escort, especially with its small hull size. 

This ‌then moved on for another year until the work on the JS Abukuma (DE-229) completed in 1989 and subsequently introduced to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s fleet. The sixth and final ship, JS Tone (DE-234), completed in 1993.

The construction of all Abukuma-class destroyer escorts comes with a delegation of shipbuilding assignments across key Japanese shipbuilders in the country. Two (2) of all six (6) Abukuma-class destroyer escorts have the hulls produced in either of the three (3) Japanese shipbuilding entities, namely the Mitsui shipyard in Tamano, Japan, the Maizuru (Hitachi) shipyard in Maizuru, Japan, and the Sumitomo shipyard in Uraga, Japan. This gives all entities the experience in the design’s shipbuilding process.

With the completion of all six (6) Abukuma-class destroyer escorts, each of the vessels served a significant role crucial in securing and monitoring the Japanese territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone waters, an activity that still does until today, and definitely until the first of the said destroyer escorts will get decommissioned from active duty within the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force from 2027. The ships will then get replaced by the newer Mogami-class guided missile frigates (FFM).

This means that by 2027, the JS Abukuma, from its launch to decommissioning, has accrued a service life with a total age of 38 years, while the rest of the ships belonging to the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts will also have such an age of around 30-40 years, wherein by that period it will already transferred to the Philippine Navy and will add to the composition of the service branch’s Offshore Combat Force. Reports gathered have confirmed that the Philippine Navy will probably get all six (6) ships.

As there is the likelihood that the naval service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines will get the ships from Japan that counts as a significant force multiplier gain to the fleet, the next sub-topic will delve more into the ship’s specifications, both in its current configuration and what will be its future configuration given that in Japan will probably remove and replace onboard weaponry and sensors under its joint development and production scheme.

THE SHIP'S SPECIFICATIONS

The Abukuma-class destroyer escorts have the hull size and capability of the Jose Rizal-class frigates while having a tonnage of the Rajah Sulayman-class OPVs.
Image Source.

Knowing the ship’s specifications will help provide an idea regarding the capabilities that it possesses, especially understanding its baseline that will give a preference of what the Philippine Navy expects into getting this class of vessel into the fleet. 

Just a disclaimer though, some of the information provided here will include its current load-out during its service within the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, as the armaments onboard might likely get removed and replaced with the ones fitting the Philippine Navy’s requirement.

The first one to cover is ‌its hull dimensions, whereby the size of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts comes with 109 meters long, 13.4 meters beam, and a draft of 3.8 meters. Its weight displacement is ‌2,000 tons at standard configuration, and 2,550 tons at its full load configuration. For comparison, the Jose Rizal-class frigate of the Philippine Navy has a hull size of 107 meters long, 14 meters beam, and a weight displacement of 2,600 tons.

While both the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts and the Jose Rizal-class frigates share almost similar hull size and tonnage, the latter has the advantage of incorporating a more modern shipbuilding design, as it comes with a helipad, helicopter hangar, and a space for incorporating a Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells for its added security against aerial threats, aside from the commonality of armaments between both ships like the 76mm main gun, anti-ship missiles, torpedo mounts, and close-in weapons system (CIWS).

Speaking of armaments, the current weapons load-out of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts in its service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force or JMSDF comes with an Oto Melara 76mm main gun, Type 74 launcher for the RUR-5 ASROC anti-submarine rockets, Mk141 canisters for the RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles in a 4x2 configuration totaling 8 antiship missiles onboard, Type 68 triple-racked torpedo tubes for torpedoes in a 3x2 configuration, and a single Mk15 Phalanx CIWS mount.

Take note that with current restrictions on the Japanese side in the export of weapons under its pacifist constitution, there is a greater likelihood that the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts that the Philippine Navy sets to receive will have a different weapons configuration, as compared to the one when it was still serving the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force or JMSDF. This means the likelihood of getting the RUR-5 ASROC launcher, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and the Phalanx CIWS removed from the ship.

Finally, the propulsion system of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts come with a Combined Diesel or Gas or CODOG configuration, whereby the vessel’s power output originated from two (2) Kawasaki-Rolls-Royce SM1A gas turbines (26650 SHP output) for its performance mode, and two (2) Mitsubishi S12U-MTK diesel engines (at 6000 hp output) for its regular cruising mode, with a total maximum speed of the vessels of around twenty-seven (27) knots.

With the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts that the Philippine Navy receives will probably go differently from their current configuration under the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force given the restrictions, the following discussion subset will encompass other important information relating the joint production and research scheme that this transfer will undertake, along with its future classification within the fleet and the budget for its rearmament of the ships with ones fitted by the Philippine Navy itself.

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE DEAL

The Philippine Navy recently conducted a joint visual inspection in Japan last August 2025.
Image Source.

In August 2025, the Philippine Navy representatives and their Japanese counterparts took part in a joint visual inspection or JVR activity in Japan, specifically at the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force base of Sasebo in Nagasaki. 

From here, they inspected the condition of the Abukuma-class destroyer escort JS Jintsu (DE-230) and it served as the basis for inspecting the other ships of the class, differently assigned across Japan’s multiple naval bases.

From here, the information provided from sources confirms that there is a high likelihood that the Philippine Navy will get all the six Abukuma-class destroyer escorts, of which this will provide the much-needed boost to the numerical composition of the naval service branch’s Offshore Combat Force. 

This effectively complements the other ships in the fleet, lessening the operational stress of prolonged deployment at sea, while providing the needed presence in the country’s territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone waters.

Despite the boost, it is highly certain that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force will remove the onboard armaments and leave the fitting of newer ones at the discretion of the Philippine Navy through the Joint Development and Production scheme in a way to skirt current restrictions provided under the current Japanese legal system. This put the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts’ armaments in two (2) likely scenarios as presented in the succeeding sentences of this sub-topic.

The first and most likely outcome is for the Philippine Navy to provide it with the minimum required armaments onboard the ship, with upgrades coming in the succeeding years since its commissioning to the fleet. This means ‌that the ships will get their armaments other than the 76mm Oto Melara main gun removed, while likely remaining as a patrol gunship before the ship gets the needed upgrades, most likely patterned after the armaments already available onboard other Philippine Navy ships.

This means that there is a greater chance that the Philippine Navy will arm the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts, likely getting classified as ‘anti-submarine frigates’ upon joining the fleet the armaments it needs as a direct replacement to the ones removed onboard, such as the SSM-700K Haeseong C-Star anti-ship missiles, K745 Blue Shark Torpedoes, and even the Gokdeniz Close-In Weapons System found onboard the Miguel Malvar-class frigates.

The said weapon upgrades, while theoretical in the basis of streamlining logistical chains, will still change at the discretion of the Philippine Navy leadership’s approach into how it envisions the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts, then frigates, will join the fleet. 

Despite this fitting nomenclature of the vessels, this should not stop the fleet from buying more capable vessels that it aims to have, particularly the repeat orders of both the Miguel Malvar (or HDF-3500 under the Full Complement Project), and Jose Rizal-classes.

Still, the deal itself comes as the largest one that the Philippine Navy encounters to date, and is also the largest one that Japan has ever come up with in exporting naval assets, albeit through a transfer, to a foreign country that comes as an immediate neighbor that shares the same national security concerns. 

This growing partnership, coupled with the recently ratified Reciprocal Access Agreement of both countries, is a testament of ‌‌increased defense cooperation between the said countries in the years to come.

LOOKING FORWARD

JS Abukuma (DE-229) is likely the first one to get decommissioned in 2027.
(c) Binmei, YouTube.

For more than thirty (30) years, the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts play a significant role of ensuring the security of Japan’s territorial and exclusive economic zone waters, ensuring that the deterrence exist in keeping intruders from entering its domain, such as what China did with Japan’s southernmost island of Senkaku. Sharing the same concerns in the region, the Philippines receiving these destroyer escorts from Japan is also helping the latter in ensuring the status quo in the region.

The shape in geopolitical dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region made Japan and the Philippines, both countries that bear maritime domains that compose of island groups, share the same interest and concerns with the lingering threat that pose against both of the countries’ sovereignty and national interest, as both experienced the same aggression posed by the regional power’s deployment of its coast guard vessels and maritime militia in a way to increase aggression in an already-dangerous situation.

Japan’s transfer of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts to the Philippine Navy simply comes as one of the recent testament of closer bilateral defense ties between both countries, coupled with overwhelming support for providing the country with the needed tools to support its maritime domain awareness. 

One given example coming out of these growing ties is the successful Official Development Aid from JICA for the construction and sale of both the Parola-class and Teresa Magbanua-class MRRVs for the PCG.

Complementing both the pairs of Jose Rizal-class frigate and the Miguel Malvar-class frigate of the Philippine Navy, the number of ships with this classification within the fleet will come at a sum of ten (10) ships, of which it will have followed in by an additional pair of frigates bought under the Frigate Acquisition Project - Full Complement under the Re-Horizon 3 of the Revised AFP Modernization Program. Preferences of the latter project is with either the HDF-3200 or the HDF-3500 designs of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.

The numbers that might get introduced in the Philippine Navy come as a boost that will probably give the fleet the needed increase of its composition at a short time possible where, alongside the speedy construction of newly built vessels from South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ own shipyard in Ulsan, gives added support not only on providing an assured presence in the Philippine territorial and EEZ waters, but also in ensuring Maritime Domain Awareness in areas like the West Philippine Sea.

Also, introducing the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts to the Philippine Navy will probably ease the operational times that other vessels in the fleet will undertake in the high seas, assuring that there is always a vessel available to undertake maritime defense duties and responsibilities, while minimizing the operational stress that the ships needed, along with having the time allowed for an ensured maintenance and repair periods that will give additional readiness that allow for future patrols.

Looking forward, the Philippine Navy will probably see the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts as an integral part of the fleet itself. And while the naval service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines is gearing itself for a new type of policy direction through the ‘Sail Plan 2040’, the services that these Japanese-made ships will provide to the Philippine Navy will give worth to the territorial defense efforts that the national government aims to achieve against a more powerful adversary.

(c) 2025 PDA.

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Introduction of the New Rajah Sulayman-class OPV of the Philippine Navy

Known initially as the HDP-2200+ Offshore Patrol Vessel design presented to the Philippine Navy by the South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, the offshore patrol vessel's introduction with its designated names and hull numbers gives insight on the background and historical significance of each vessel's name that will join the fleet in the future, from the time this article publishes.

IN THE NEWS

Here is a full image of officials of both the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, posing in front of the newly launched BRP Rajah Sulayman (PS-20).
Image Source.

As the various government agencies and the rest of the country prepares to the 127th Independence Day celebration that took place on June 12, 2025, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Department of National Defense have this event go even further, even beyond the military marches that have took place in Quirino Grandstand near Rizal Park, Manila. This event encompasses an important event for the first vessel of its own class, as visitors have witnessed its launching ceremony.

It was June 11, 2025, when the launching of the Philippine Navy’s first offshore patrol vessel got launched in the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries facility in Ulsan, South Korea. On the ship’s hull, it bears the name of a chieftain before the Philippines even became an entity formed by Spanish colonization. 

On the said ship’s name is the BRP Rajah Sulayman, named after a Rajah that ruled over the Kingdom of Luzon before getting conquered by the Spaniards under the auspices of explorer Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.

Attended the launching ceremony are the officials of the South Korean shipyard, along with officials belonging to the Philippine government through its embassy in South Korea, representatives from the Department of National Defense, and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Gen Romeo Brawner Jr., PA who represented the Philippine military. In a speech, he said that the launch of the first OPV is not merely the unveiling of a new ship, that it is a declaration of AFP’s commitment for maritime security.

It symbolizes the ever-increasing bilateral ties between South Korea and the Philippines, whereby both countries elevated their ties into a full strategic partnership, with an agreement taking place in October 2024. The agreement underscores the need to expand defense and security relations of both countries, which also means getting into future agreements that go similarly to the purchase of offshore patrol vessels of the Philippine Navy, now named as the Rajah Sulayman-class OPVs.

The vessel ordered has its design derived from the HDP-2200+ concept presented by the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, with specifications specially suited for the Philippine Navy requirements for an Offshore Patrol Vessel or an OPV. Initially, being the HDP-1500 design and then the HDP-2400, the Rajah Sulayman-class came with basic sensor system and armaments that usually come with a ship of this configuration. The said South Korean shipbuilder also markets the design to the Philippine Coast Guard during ADAS 2024.

As the first ship gets named and launched, so does the question of what will be the names of the remaining offshore patrol vessels that the Philippine Navy ordered in South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. 

This article will provide the details on the naming of the remaining offshore patrol vessels, which are all referring to chieftains of Rajahs and Datus in title, while providing updates to the information relating to the offshore patrol vessels that the Philippine Navy will probably receive starting next year.

For this topic, the discussion will first present an overview of the names of the remaining vessels of the Philippine Navy, while giving background of vessels that bear the same name before the Revised AFP Modernization Program taking place, starting from the 2010s up to present. 

Ultimately, the updates on the specifications and other relevant information will come presented in this article, giving a full perspective to the progress of the entire Offshore Patrol Vessel Acquisition Project of the Philippine Navy.

THE NAMING

The names and bow numbers of each Offshore Patrol Vessel belonging to the Rajah Sulayman-class.
From a Philippine Navy publication, shared on Pitz Defense Analysis.

In this new class of offshore patrol vessel, it is not surprising that the naming of the vessels will go after the country’s pre-Hispanic chieftains, as it provided additional historical significance of the said names to the resolve of the people to resist Spanish influence and power, in a place that will subsequently named as the Philippines. 

The bravery of the chieftains to protect their domains comes as a chain of resolve from the locals to keep on fighting, that the revolutionary heroes continue until the end of the Hispanic era.

On a Philippine Navy publication (see image above) on the Offshore Patrol Vessel Acquisition Project, the names and corresponding hull number of the vessels unfolded, providing a full overview of what to call on each of the six (6) offshore patrol vessels purchased. 

The following names are - BRP Rajah Sulayman (PS-20), BRP Rajah Lakandula (PS-21), BRP Rajah Humabon (PS-22), BRP Sultan Kudarat (PS-23), BRP Datu Marikudo (PS-24), and BRP Datu Sikatuna (PS-25).

First, it corroborated the classification convention that the Philippine Navy has in the present time this article has published, as it will have frigates with hull numbers from zero-six (06) to nineteen (19) with the first two (2) filled with both BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-06) and BRP Diego Silang (FFG-07). 

The offshore patrol vessels will have a hull number designation from twenty (20) to twenty-nine (29), six (6) of which are now covered by the new Rajah Sulayman-class OPVs bought from South Korea.

All the names of the ships mentioned have used before in other vessels that were once commissioned in the Philippine Navy fleet, which basically means that all the names in the offshore patrol vessels ordered by the naval service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries will use for the second time, bearing it to the brand new vessels that continue the legacy of the old ones, most of were from Second World War era.

Out of the six (6) names used for naming the HDP-2200+ offshore patrol vessels of the Philippine Navy, four (4) were names of the fleet’s frigates or destroyer escorts prior to the 1970s reclassification, and the remaining two (2) were names of ex-Malvar-class patrol corvettes. 

Going further, RPS Rajah Soliman was once a Buckley-class destroyer escort, BRP Rajah Lakandula was once an Edsall-class destroyer escort, and both BRP Rajah Humabon and BRP Datu Sikatuna were both Cannon-class destroyer escorts.

All the mentioned ships have once served in the United States Navy in the Second World War, of which this was eventually turned over to the Philippine Navy and since then became the mainstay composition of the Philippine fleet before modernization comes into mind from the Revised AFP Modernization Program in 2012, with the Jacinto-class Patrol Vessels being the most modern and advanced vessels of the time. This has then changed when the entire Philippine fleet saw modern warships serving in its inventory.

As discussing each name of the ships will only make this writeup even longer, the details will instead focus on each class of ships that was part of the Philippine Navy fleet, shortening the discussion into just four (4) types - the Buckley-class destroyer escort (frigate), the Edsall-class destroyer escort (frigate), the two (2) Cannon-class destroyer escort (frigate), and the two (2) Malvar-class patrol corvettes. All of which have their own stories of active service in the Philippine Navy’s fleet.

THE RPS RAJAH SOLIMAN (D-66)

The ship in the image come as one of the Philippine Navy frigates in the fleet.
(c) GorioB, Flickr.

Before the flagship of new offshore patrol vessels of the Philippine Navy now bearing this name, albeit more Filipino in pronunciation, this vessel and its namesake deserves a mention and detailed discussion in this writeup, as it gives an added knowledge of the country’s service branch using these names on naval vessels transferred to the Philippine fleet, even before the idea of buying brand new offshore patrol vessels became a trend in the service branch’s contemporary times.

The story started in the Second World War, whereby the United States Navy commissioned the USS Bowers (DE-637), a Buckley-class Destroyer Escort with a full service record involving its operational and mission related achievements in the Asia-Pacific theater of operations during the said conflict on a global scale. 

From the Battle of Leyte Gulf to the Battle of Okinawa, the said destroyer escort gallantly took part in the war effort that aimed to eliminate the threat of Japanese imperialism as of that time.

The first casualty involving the said warship in combat took place on April 16, 1945, whereby a Japanese aircraft conducted a Kamikaze charge against the destroyer escort, resulting in the casualty of thirty-seven (37) of its crew. 

Since then, it got converted into a High Speed Attack Transport vessel that belonged to the Charles Lawrence-class, and it remained that way for a decade and a half, until the vessel eventually turned over to the Philippine Navy in 1961 that it became the RPS Rajah Soliman (D-66).

Being the largest vessel that the Philippine Navy had during that time in the 1960s, the RPS Rajah Soliman (D-66) has a length of 93.3 meters, a beam of 11.1 meters, and a draft of 3.4 meters. By modern standards, this ship's size comes almost at par with the modern Rajah Sulayman-class offshore patrol vessels that get discussed in this writeup, with the latter being slightly larger. The largest vessel in the fleet as of this time is the Tarlac-class Landing Docks, with a length of around 123 meters and a beam of 21.8 meters.

While both aforementioned ships have almost similar size, things are not that similar in terms of fitted armaments onboard, as the old RPS Rajah Soliman (D-66) comes with depth charge racks and torpedo tubes onboard that can carry 21-inch torpedoes, making this vessel capable to conduct anti-submarine operations that count as a significant capability of that time, only regained with the entry of both Jose Rizal and Miguel Malvar-class frigates in the Philippine Navy fleet as of recent.

The old RPS Rajah Soliman (D-66) served in the Philippine Navy fleet from its entry in 1961 to its demise in 1964, when the Typhoon Winnie (local name: Dading) pummeling the shores of the country, especially the repair facility that the aforementioned destroyer escort got situated during the storm. 

The battering waves that came out from that typhoon rendered the vessel unserviceable, counted as beyond economical repair that made it eventually sold for scrap in 1966. 

It took the Philippine Navy almost six (6) decades to have a ship getting named to this specific pre-colonial chieftain once again, this time having its spelling more native to the Filipino language and also became the name of the entire class of offshore patrol vessels that the naval service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines will receive in the latter part of the decade from the day this writeup publishes. The next one will also refer to another single class of destroyer escort serving the fleet.

THE BRP RAJAH LAKANDULA (PF-4)

The Edsall-class BRP Rajah Lakandula (PF-4) is in the foreground, with the BRP Andres Bonifacio (PF-7) in the background.
Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.

This ship, like the RPS Rajah Soliman (D-66), was also a warship that solely belong to its own class of warship that have served the Philippine Navy, and like the aforementioned 1960s-era destroyer escort, have only served the naval service branch of the Philippine Armed Forces’ offshore combat force fleet for a medium amount time, at least actively for twelve (12) years. The BRP Rajah Lakandula (PF-4) was a sole Edsall-class destroyer escort that served the Philippine Navy from 1976 to 1988.

As a vessel, it served most of its time within the United States Navy as the USS Camp (DE-251), a destroyer escort vessel that provided additional protection on the Atlantic convoy that supplied European war effort against Nazi Germany through the United Kingdom during the Second World War. 

Built and commissioned in 1943, it provided support in the logistics chain by countering threats posed by German U-Boats that aimed to disrupt the entire war supply chain by sinking the convoy vessels carrying goods.

After the war, the USS Camp (DE-251) reclassified into a training ship in Pearl Harbor in 1945, until the ship decommissioned from active duty on May 1, 1946. The ship recommissioned back into service as the radar picket ship USS Camp (DER-251), providing an early warning system that expands coverage of detecting foreign aircraft that enters the expanded area of responsibility, similar to how airborne warning and control systems or AWACS perform in today’s battlefield environment.

It served as a radar picket ship platform until it officially turned over to the South Vietnamese Navy in 1971 as the RVNS Tran Hung Dao (HQ-1), where it served the fleet for four (4) years until the country it served surrendered after the successful takeover and reunification as accomplished by the communist North Vietnam. The said South Vietnamese frigate escaped to the Philippines, where the Philippine Navy gained the ship as the BRP Rajah Lakandula (PF-4).

One notable mission that the ship took part was with its patrol operation in the Basilan Strait’s Sangbay Island on October 7, 1980, when its crew draw into a battle with armed pirates in the island, resulting to the casualty of the Medal of Valor recipient Ensign Albert V Majini, whose name now emblazoned on an Acero-class Fast Attack Interdiction Craft - Missile (FAIC-M) of the Philippine Navy, a way to show testament on his heroism against a threat that attempted to pin down BRP Rajah Lakandula (PF-4).

Being an Edsall-class destroyer escort, the USS Camp has the following specifications, whereby its size comes with 93.27 meters long, 11.15 meters wide, and 3.73 meters draft. 

For comparison, the Rajah Sulayman-class offshore patrol vessels are slightly larger and almost on a par with the provided size dimensions, but take note that being a destroyer escort, the BRP Rajah Lakandula has torpedo tubes and depth charge racks fitted onboard, along with capable anti-aircraft guns that makes it a formidable vessel of its time.

The BRP Rajah Lakandula, after twelve (12) years of actively serving the Philippine Navy, gets decommissioned in 1988, and since then served as the stationary barracks ship for the fleet until it eventually sold for scrap sometime between the late 1990s and the early 2000s. 

Since then, it took the Philippine Navy at least two and a half (2 ½) decades for its leadership to reuse the name for the second time, with this one now named on the country’s second HDP-2200+ derived offshore patrol vessel.

THE TWO (2) PHL NAVY CANNON-CLASS DESTROYER ESCORTS

This was once a flagship of the Philippine Navy's fleet, until the entry of the former Hamilton-class cutter BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-15/PS-15), then a patrol frigate (now an offshore patrol vessel).
Image retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.

The following two (2) Cannon-class destroyer escorts discussed bears the name that the new offshore patrol vessels will soon have, out of three (3) vessels that belong to this class of vessels that all bear the names of pre-Hispanic chieftains of the Philippines. 

The portion of this subtopic will also encompass the reason that the name of one of the Cannon-class ships, BRP Datu Kalantiaw, does not end up included in this final list of names of the Philippine Navy’s new offshore patrol vessels.

Setting aside BRP Datu Kalantiaw comes the other two (2) Cannon-class destroyer escorts that bears the name that two (2) of the upcoming HDP-2200+ offshore patrol vessels will soon have, which are the vessels BRP Datu Sikatuna (PF-5) and BRP Rajah Humabon (PF-6), then (PF/PS-11). 

Getting back to the BRP Datu Kalantiaw, the reason this name did not end up included was because of its pseudo-historical nature of the personality, suggesting that there was actually no Datu Kalantiaw existed, and was rather a hoax.

Going back to the two (2) vessels named BRP Datu Sikatuna and BRP Rajah Humabon, its service history with the Philippine Navy began when the aforementioned destroyer escorts, once operated by Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force as JDS Asahi (DE-262) and JDS Hatsuhi (DE-263), both defined the Asahi-class destroyer escorts of the Japanese fleet before the formal turn-over of the vessels to the Philippine fleet on the day of September 13, 1976.

Still going further back into history, both the said Cannon-class destroyer escorts served the United States Navy as the USS Amick (DE-168), and USS Atherton (DE-169), both serving in the Second World War as part of the fleet that pushes the United States war effort to put both the Japanese Empire and Nazi Germany into eventual defeat. Both vessels officially got launched into the water on May 27, 1943, with gaps in months of the commissioning of the aforementioned destroyer escorts into the fleet within the said year.

While both vessels share the same year of getting commissioned into active duty, the same cannot say in the number of years that both vessels served on three navies, from the United States Navy, then the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force or JMSDF, and eventually in the Philippine Navy service where both vessels saw maximizing its function in the fleet until decommissioning. The gap of decommissioning between both the BRP Datu Sikatuna and the BRP Rajah Humabon has spanned for at almost thirty (30) years.

The BRP Datu Sikatuna (PF-5) decommissioned first in 1989, likely due that there are only two (2) Cannon-class destroyer escorts, then named as Kalantiaw-class patrol frigates in service that spare parts hulk for this class of ships becoming more scarce, making the cannibalization of the vessel as a spare parts hulk more likely to ensure that the remaining ship of this class in service, the BRP Rajah Humabon, fully operational.

Decommissioning BRP Datu Sikatuna (PF-5) enabled the BRP Rajah Humabon (PF/PS-11) to operate for at least twenty-nine (29) years in the fleet, with the ship being the flagship of the Philippine Navy from the late 90s up to the early 2010s, when the first ex-Hamilton class cutter BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF/PS-15) entered active service within the fleet. As the Philippine Navy modernizes its fleet up to the standards of the time, the BRP Rajah Humabon decommissioned from active service on March 15, 2018.

BRP SULTAN KUDARAT AND BRP DATU MARIKUDO

The BRP Sultan Kudarat (PS-22) was once part of the Malvar-class patrol corvettes.
Photo by Mike Baylon, from Navsource.

Both of the vessels belonged to what has named as the ‘Malvar-class patrol corvettes’, which was the Philippine Navy’s mainstay patrol platform before the Revised AFP Modernization Program helped the service branch securing its newer vessels and rendering most of the vessels belonging to this class getting decommissioned from active duty. Both vessels aforementioned belong to this specific class of patrol vessels that were once known as the PCE patrol crafts from the United States Navy.

The BRP Sultan Kudarat (PS-22) was a PCE-842-class patrol craft made for the United States Navy in the Second World War, bearing the name PCE-895 at the day of its commissioning on October 30, 1944. Then it became known to be the USS Crestview (PCE-895) on February 15, 1956. 

Like the BRP Rajah Lakandula (PF-4), the USS Crestview then served in the South Vietnamese Navy as the Dong Da II (HQ 07), until it evacuated to the Philippines after its fall in 1975.

Meanwhile, the BRP Datu Marikudo (PS-23) was a PCE(R)-489-class patrol craft made for the United States, also used in the Second World War as the PCE(R)-853 upon commissioning on June 16, 1944. 

Then it received its new name as the USS Amherst (PCE(R)-853) on February 15, 1956, a training reserve ship intended to provide skills to the naval reservists of the Forth (4th) Naval District in Philadelphia, in the state of Pennsylvania. It changed hands like its sistership, the BRP Sultan Kudarat.

Still talking about the BRP Datu Marikudo (PS-23), it then served in the South Vietnamese Navy as the Van Kiep (HQ 14), where they became the second user of the vessel on June 3, 1970 in its turn-over from the United States Navy, when the ship got struck out from the registry. It served for at least five (5) years, until the Vietnamese government fell in 1975, where alongside the then future BRP Sultan Kudarat (PS-22) and BRP Rajah Lakandula (PF-4), evacuated to the Philippines.

Both the BRP Sultan Kudarat (PS-22) and BRP Datu Marikudo (PS-23) entered the Philippine Navy on April 5, 1976, as the RPS Sultan Kudarat and RPS Datu Marikudo, until the prefix got its revision into the current one in the 1980s. 

Both served the fleet as the mainstay patrol vessels all throughout the 1990s up to the early 2010s, where the fleet experienced a transformation resulting from the materialization of the Revised AFP Modernization Program.

The BRP Datu Marikudo first decommissioned from active duty, citing the vessel’s age, in December 2010, at the time that the Philippine Navy was in poor shape and the idea of having modernized vessels, aside from the Jacinto-class patrol vessels already in service, was still a distant dream. 

The BRP Sultan Kudarat (PS-22) decommissioned nine (9) years later, on July 5, 2019, slowly putting out the remaining World War 2 era vessels from the fleet, until the replacements came in six (6) years later.

Now, both names will get used for a second time, which will come with the upcoming six (6) Rajah Sulayman-class offshore patrol vessels produced by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries for the Philippine Navy’s modernization requirements. 

Seeing this, the new ships that bear the same name will also bear the operational legacy brought by the older Malvar-class patrol vessels that came before it, continuing the always constant mandate of securing the country’s maritime interests.

SUMMARY

An updated version of the infographic, featuring the names of the vessels.
Pitz Defense Analysis file image.

Once known as the HDP-1500, then the HDP-2400 variant, the Philippine Navy’s Rajah Sulayman-class offshore patrol vessels officially derive itself from the HDP-2200+ Offshore Patrol Vessels as marketed by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, itself going differently to its slightly different product line that is the HDP-2200 variant. The latter, as discussed in this website, are the ones offered by the said South Korean shipbuilder to the Philippine Coast Guard during the 2024 ADAS Exhibition.

The stories of the names presented were referring to the ships that have once served the Philippine Navy of the old, whereby all of it served as a United States Navy vessel during the Second World War, with two (2) of it transferred from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in the meantime, until it served in the Philippine Navy fleet for a final time. The same goes with the ones that have served with the South Vietnamese Navy vessels that sought escape to the country after their motherland collapsed in 1975.

Bearing the names of the pre-Hispanic chieftains come with it the prestige of a growing Philippine Navy fleet, with the Offshore Combat Force surely getting the six (6) offshore patrol vessels under this acquisition project. 

It bears the names of its namesakes, all of which bear a reputation of bravery and reputation of the said chieftains against the attempts of domination by the old colonials, or bearing a reputation of flourishing of pre-colonial communities before getting a strong pact with the Spanish.

It will join the fleet that will complement the other offshore patrol vessels that form part of the Offshore Combat Force, notably the Del Pilar-class offshore patrol vessels that were once the Hamilton-class cutters of the Philippine Coast Guard, and the Jacinto-class patrol vessels that were once the Hong Kong-based Peacock-class vessels that have served the British Royal Navy. This soared the number of offshore patrol vessels of the fleet to at least twelve (12) vessels upon the completion of delivery.

Of course, not to mention are the main combatants of the fleet, namely the Jose Rizal and Miguel Malvar-class frigate, along with the sole BRP Conrado Yap (PS-30), which itself is the single Pohang-class corvette that currently serves the Philippine fleet. 

To date, the construction of Rajah Sulayman-class offshore patrol vessels increases the number of warship exports made by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries to at least ten (10) vessels, with likely more to come in the next couple of years.

As the BRP Rajah Sulayman getting launched on June 2025, it signifies the start of the new class of offshore patrol vessels that will fully serve the Philippine Navy in the upcoming decades, gallantly patrolling and securing the country’s territorial and EEZ waters by providing an added presence in crucial areas like the West Philippine Sea. The vessels might go hand in hand with the Philippine Coast Guard’s own vessels in establishing an expanded Maritime Domain Awareness or MDA in its own waters.

As reported, the Rajah Sulayman-class offshore patrol vessels will have its delivery fully completed by year 2028, in which it will significantly increase the number of vessels in the Philippine Navy with the number of units specified in the contract. 

The increase is a welcoming development as the fleet needs more hulls for an effective operation of constantly providing a presence in the country’s vast waters that connect its archipelagic geographical construct. 

(c) 2025 PDA.

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