TSAMTO, December 14. The Philippine Navy will receive one or two more Pohang-class corvettes from the Republic of Korea Navy in addition to the two corvettes approved for transfer earlier.
The MaxDefense Philippines resource has received information from several sources confirming that active negotiations are underway on this topic. The Republic of Korea Navy still has 4 Version IV ships available for transfer.
Thus, if these plans come to fruition, the Philippine Navy will be armed with four Pohang-class corvettes, including the former Korean Chunju (now Conrado Yap as part of the Philippine Navy) and Andong, which was previously approved for transfer.
It is also possible to purchase additional Pohang-class corvettes later, depending on the timing of their decommissioning from the ROK Navy, as well as the ability of the Philippine Navy to receive and service them in its composition.
Recall that the command of the Philippine Navy decided to purchase the second anti-submarine corvette of the Pohang class from the Navy of the Republic of Korea in November 2021. It is assumed that the Philippine Navy will receive the corvette (PCC-771) Andong, which has been decommissioned by the Republic of Korea Navy.
Andong will become the second Pohang-class ship in the Philippine Navy. The corvette (PCC-762) "Chunju" was transferred to the Philippine Navy in August 2019 and put into service under the new name (PS-39) "Conrado Yap". After two years of use, the command of the Philippine Navy came to the conclusion that South Korean ships are capable of reliably protecting the territorial waters of the country.
The Andong-class corvette (PCC-771) of the Pohang class was built at the Hanjin Heavy Industries shipyard in 1987 and adopted by the Republic of Korea Navy in 1989. On December 31, 2020, the ship was decommissioned from the fleet after 31 years of service.
The ship should expand the capabilities of the Philippine Navy to combat enemy surface ships and submarines, patrol territorial waters, air defense, as well as combat piracy and terrorism.
It is assumed that, as in the case of the Conrado Yap, missile systems and some other equipment, including electronic warfare, will be dismantled before being transferred from the Andong. Nevertheless, the corvette with the remaining armament will be used to fill the gap in combat capabilities before the delivery of the new-built corvettes.
Pohang is a class of multipurpose corvettes in service with the Republic of Korea Navy. In the period from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, 24 ships of this type were built. Earlier, the Republic of Korea handed over the decommissioned Pohang-class corvettes to the Navies of Peru, Vietnam, the Philippines, Colombia and Egypt. Currently, 10 corvettes of the series remain in the South Korean fleet.
The length of the Pohang–class ship is 88.3 m, width – 10 m, draft – 2.9 m, total displacement – 1216 tons, crew – 118 people, autonomy - 20 days. The corvette is equipped with a CODOG type GEU, which includes an LM-2500 gas turbine with a capacity of 26,820 hp and 2 MTU 12V 956 TB82 diesel engines with a capacity of 6260 hp, allowing a maximum speed of 32 knots. The range is 4000 nautical miles at a speed of 15 knots.
The armament includes two 76-mm AU Oto Melara, two paired 40-mm AU 40/L70 Breda-Bofors, two double-container PU RGM-84 "Harpoon", two three-tube 324-mm torpedo tubes.
