MaxDefense Philippines finally received a confirmation from its sources that after more than 2 years of waiting, the Philippine Navy will be receiving a Pohang-class corvette from South Korea. This is NOT the same ship that was reported since 2014, which is a totally different project.





After conducting of the Joint Visual Inspection by the Philippine Navy in Jinhae Naval Base in South Korea, spearheaded by the Offshore Combat Force's commanding officer himself, the Philippine Navy decided to finally accept the offer made by the South Korean government to transfer the Pohang-class Flight III anti-submarine corvette. It appears that only 1 ship was offered by the South Korean government, while the other decommissioned Flight III ships will be going to 2 other countries. The ship is expected to be in service with the Philippine Navy by 4th quarter of 2017.





While the deal appears that the ship is free, the Philippine Navy will have to spend around Php 200 million for the entire transfer process, including reactivation, repair, minor refurbishing works, replacement of obsolete systems required for safe use of the ship, crew billeting and training, and other expenses.





The ship is expected to be assigned with the Offshore Combat Force (OCF) of the Philippine Fleet, and will be the primary anti-submarne warfare (ASW) platform of the service until the introduction of other ASW-capable units.





Pohang-class corvette ROKS Chungju (PCC-762), the unit reportedly assigned for transfer to the Philippine Navy.

Credits to owner of photo.













The Ship in Brief:





The ship, reported to be the former ROKS Chungju (PCC-762), was built by Korea Tacoma Shipyard, was commissioned with the Republic of Korea Navy in 1987, and served until it was decommissioned in December 2016. Based on these dates, the ship is around 30 years old, or at least 20 years younger than the Hamilton-class cutters acquired by the Philippine Navy from the US Coast Guard.

















It is considered a Flight III sub-class of the Pohang-class combat corvette, which is configured for anti-submarine warfare. It is equipped with two Oto Melara 76mm Compact naval guns, two Breda twin 40mm/70 naval guns, two Mk. 32 triple torpedo tubes, and two Mk.9 depth charge racks. It was previously fitted with Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers, and while they are not included in the transfer, the ship won't need major alterations and adjustments for launchers to be re-installed again.





The ship's sensors suite include Raytheon AN/SPS-64 radar, Signaal WM-28 Fire Control system, and a Raytheon AN/SQS-58 hull mounted sonar which replaced an older model.





The ROKS Chungju is equipped with two Mk.32 triple torpedo launchers, similar to the photo above.

Photo taken from Wikipedia.













As an Anti Submarine Warfare Training Ship:





The ship's Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) gear is the primary reason of the Philippine Navy's interest in the Pohang-class. With no warship in its fleet with ASW capability, the PN has almost zero capability in detecting and hunting submarines, as well as providing practical and actual ASW training to its personnel.





The ASW training is very important since the Philippine Navy is expecting the delivery of two new ASW-capable frigates in the next few years, and the training of potential crew members should start as early as possible. According to our sources, the Republic of Korea Navy will primarily assist in training PN personnel in ASW, while the PN will also be getting assistance from other friendly navies in growing the knowledge and experience base.













What Happened to the Earlier Offer:





In 2014, it was reported that the Philippine Navy will be receiving the Pohang-class Flight II ASuW corvette ROKS Mokpo (PCC-759) as a donation by the South Korean government. While the ship itself is free, the ship will need to undergo rehabilitation and refurbishing before it can set sail for the Philippines. And expenses for this would be paid for by the Philippine government.





A Joint Visual Inspection (JVI) team from the Philippine Navy found in 2014 that the ROKS Mokpo was in very poor condition, and will need a huge investment in time and money to be brought to tip top shape. Also, it is not an ASW-configured warship, and this is what the PN is actually putting priority in what they are looking for. Thus, the Philippine Navy rejected the offer, and instead requested the Korean government to provide an alternative offer.





The latest proposal made by the Korean government has reached the Philippine Navy late last year, resulting to this latest arrangement for the transfer of ROKS Chungju.





While we were all hoping that the Koreans may have offered more than just 1 ship, MaxDefense received confirmation that the other available Flight III corvettes were earmarked for Vietnam, and another one for a South American country.





Until now there are reportedly no takers yet of the former ROKS Mokpo, suggesting that the inspection results from the PN may hold weight.





So let's stop looking for the Mokpo, shall we?









Future Plans:





The Philippine Navy has requested funding for a combat system upgrade for a single Pohang-class corvette as part of the AFP Modernization Program's Horizon 2 phase, as submitted by the AFP and DND to Malacanang. This will enable the PN to install a heavier weapons system like anti-ship missiles, while also upgrading its weapons and sensor suite.





Aside from that, the Philippine Navy is also hoping that the South Korean government will again offer more Pohang-class corvettes, as the PN wanted to have at least 3 units in its fleet. This is logical, considering that operating a single Pohang-class ship does not make sense, and would be a logistical problem for the PN since it uses parts and systems that are currently not in their logistics and maintenance chain. More ships of the class in PN service makes its continued use more reasonable in both operations and logistics point of view.





These ships are also expected to replace some of the World War 2-era assets of the Philippine Navy, which they wanted to retire from service by year 2020.





The Pohang-class are actually configured to carry and fire Harpoon anti-ship missiles, as seen on the photo above. The combat system upgrade requested by the PN for the Pohang-class under the Horizon 2 phase of the Navy's modernization programme may include the acquisition and installation of such systems, enabling the ship to have the capability to engage enemy ships in longer distances.

Credits to the owner of the photo.









MaxDefense will update this blog entry as more information comes in the near future. Meanwhile, MaxDefense readers are adviced to also read our old blog entry regarding the Pohang-class acquisition by the Philippine Navy, which I believe is still relevant up to now:



