TSAMTO, February 15. The URO (151) frigate "Antonio Luna" of the Jose Rizal class, built by the South Korean company Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), arrived in the Philippines.
According to the command of the Philippine Navy, the ship entered the territorial waters of the country near the island of Mavulis (Itbayat municipality, Batanes province) on February 7, and on February 9 it was met by the previously delivered lead frigate of the series (151) "Jose Rizal". During the welcoming ceremony, the AW-109 helicopter and three FA-50 light combat aircraft of the Philippine Air Force flew over the ship. A day later, on February 10, the ship arrived at the Subic Bay base (Philippines), where the crew and the arrived Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) specialists will undergo mandatory quarantine. The official acceptance ceremony will be held later.
(151) The Antonio Luna is the second Jose Rizal-class frigate built in the Republic of Korea by the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipbuilding company. The Philippine Armed Forces Inspection Team received the ship at Ulsan on January 28, 2021. The frigate left Ulsan on 5 February. The transfer of the ship was realized one month earlier than the delivery date specified in the contract (March 6).
As reported by TSAMTO, on October 24, 2016, the Ministry of National Defense of the Philippines and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) signed a contract for the construction of two 2,600-ton URO frigates, which are a smaller version of the multi-purpose frigate HDF-3000 ("Incheon" (FFX-I)), which is in service with the Navy of the Republic of Korea. The ships are designed for anti-submarine, anti-ship warfare, air defense and electronic warfare.
Lead ship of the series, (151) "Jose Rizal", was commissioned into the Philippine Navy on July 10, 2020. Steel cutting for the second ship of the series, (151) "Antonio Luna", began on September 17, 2018, keel laying took place on May 23, 2019, launching took place on November 8, 2019.
The contractor, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), was working ahead of schedule, and the ship was expected to be delivered to the customer in September 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the delivery was postponed to October 2020, and then to February 2021.
