The Philippine Navy’s first missile-capable frigate, BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150), will have the actual fuel consumption of its engines tested during its voyage to the Philippines. The ship will test the actual fuel consumption with four engines at full speed (and) also with two engines at cruising speed. The ship is scheduled to leave the Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea Monday afternoon and is expected to arrive at the anchorage area of Subic Bay, Zambales on the morning of May 23 coinciding with the first anniversary of its launching.
The Philippine Navy chief Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said 61 PN “organic” personnel are aboard the ship along with 23 personnel from HHI and four “owner’s representatives”. BRP Jose Rizal was supposed to be delivered in late April but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its sister ship, BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151), is set for delivery before yearend. The sixth sea trials focused on weapons and sensors, vessel performance, and integrated platform management system. ” To be more specific, it demonstrated the warfare and operational capabilities of the frigate
BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150) is the lead ship of her class, ordered for the Philippine Navy. It is also the first purpose-built frigate of the service, as its major warships were mostly transferred from other navies and reclassified as frigates. It will become one of the service’s primary warships and take over multi-role operations such as coast patrol and anti-submarine warfare. BRP Jose Rizal has a maximum designed speed of 25 knots and a cruising speed of 15 knots and a range of 4,500 nautical miles.
The BRP Jose Rizal was designed and built by South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and was based on the HDF-2600 frigate design, which in turn was derived from the Incheon-class frigate of the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN). Changes were made on the base design by making use of design features found on newer frigate designs for the ROKN like the Incheon-class’ successor the Daegu-class frigate, considering reduced radar cross-section by having cleaner lines and smooth surface design, and reduced overhangs.
