Philippine Navy acquires Hamilton class patrol craft

[Big_daddy]

Philippine Navy acquires US patrol ship
Agence France-Presse
Posted at 03/07/2011 3:00 PM | Updated as of 03/07/2011 3:00 PM

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Navy said Monday it had bought a large Hamilton-class patrol craft from the United States to help it guard its waters amid tensions over territorial claims, notably with China.

The announcement was made by the new Philippine military chief of staff, Air Force Lieutenant-General Eduardo Oban, as he assumed his post.

"As I speak, Philippine Navy officers are now in the United States... preparing to sail our first Hamilton class navy (vessel) to the Philippines," he said in a speech to troops.

"We shall sustain efforts to modernize our Armed Forces," he added.

Details of the acquisition were not disclosed, but the Navy said in January that acquiring the refurbished, 380-foot (115-meter) vessel was aimed at boosting its border patrol capability.

Monday's announcement came amid fresh tensions between Manila and China over allegations that Beijing's patrol vessels harassed a Philippine oil exploration boat in disputed waters in the South China Sea last week.

After lodging a formal protest, President Benigno Aquino III ordered coast guard escorts for the oil exploration vessel, which was conducting a seismic survey in the Reed Bank, which is close to the disputed Spratly islands.

China has brushed the protest aside, reasserting that the Spratlys, which it calls the Nansha islands, and adjacent waters have always been part of its territory.

The reputedly oil-rich chain are claimed -- in whole or in part -- by China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The new ship will replace the Philippine Navy's flagship, Raja Humabon, a Cannon-class destroyer escort, which is probably one of the world's oldest warships, the Navy has said.

Equipped with a retractable hangar, a helicopter flight deck and powered by a dual engine or gas turbines, the Hamilton is described as a high endurance cutter with close-in weapons systems.

Washington considers the Philippines a major non-NATO military ally and the two countries are bound by a 1951 mutual defense treaty.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/03...us-patrol-ship

It was commissioned in 1965, but its a hell of a lot better than most of what we have in the water now...hope that this is the start of good things for our AFP.

[userfriendly]

I am for the modernization of our armed forces, but getting a 46 year old boat hardly calls for celebration. Its an antique. Its older than most of the people in this forum. I can not understand how they can call getting 46 year old equipment as modernization.

If we are a major ally of the US, they should at least give us better equipment. They have been scraping the older Perry class frigates. They have transfered them to Poland, Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt. They have scraped a few others. Why not give it to us instead of turing it to scrap. The Perry class frigate is a very capable modern design.

[k00k]

I don't want to have my hopes up, pero sana its the start of something new... Something to show for all the land that AFP has put up for sale/rent.

Nung binasa ko to a few days ago, I looked up our current flagship, the BRP Rajah Humabon. Nasabi ko na lang, "Anak ng pating, matanda pa sa tatay ko to ah!"

[zero]

ford or chevy engine siguro ang naka-salpak dyan? usdm!

[Big_daddy]

I am for the modernization of our armed forces, but getting a 46 year old boat hardly calls for celebration. Its an antique. Its older than most of the people in this forum. I can not understand how they can call getting 46 year old equipment as modernization.

If we are a major ally of the US, they should at least give us better equipment. They have been scraping the older Perry class frigates. They have transfered them to Poland, Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt. They have scraped a few others. Why not give it to us instead of turing it to scrap. The Perry class frigate is a very capable modern design.

Yep, I agree with you on that one...but personally for me its a step in the right direction...old as it may be...it can still serve a purpose in our armed forces. Much better than nothing at all.

And yes, those FFG's are really cool ships...fast, nimble and you can squeeze a lot of hardware inside of it...and well built too...if I remember correctly...the USS Stark was a Perry class that got hit by an Exocet but managed to survive.

Let's hope this is just the start...maybe in 50 years we can get our own mini-carriers

[baludoy]

isn't there a much heralded shipyard in balamban, cebu which has made the news several times for producing hi-tech, high quality, and very large displacement seafaring vehicles? i'm just wondering how come the philippine navy seems to have nothing of there's in their inventory ( as far as i know anyway). baka naman may maibigay pa na better deal pa iyong cebuano-japanese shipbuilding company na iyan even though i understand they're into building civilian natured commercial carriers

[safeorigin]

hmmm... wonder if it's possible to acquire Skjold class patrol boats for the same price

[safeorigin]

this is the particular ship they bought

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Hamilton_(WHEC-715)

WHEC-715 specs:

http://www.harpoondatabases.com/ency...Entry1502.aspx

[Big_daddy]

Are we getting all the upgrades included in the FRAM upgrade? Astig yun di ba pag may CIWS yung ship...hehehe...pero effective kaya yun sa mga modern na ASM?

[chua_riwap]

looks like this.........

[Big_daddy]

Tha's the hull number 715, and kita mo yung CIWS sa stern area ng barko.

[safeorigin]

pretty good deal for an old hull

regarding CIWS vs. ASM

depende sa missile

kung hypersonic yung missile merong chance na di mapigilan

kung yung dindevelop naman ng china na ballistic anti ship missile... malabo na

[eld]

The Philippine Navy said Monday it had bought a large Hamilton-class patrol craft from the United States to help it guard its waters amid tensions over territorial claims, notably with China.

Um, good luck with that. :hysterical:

[safeorigin]

Um, good luck with that. :hysterical:

why would you wanna mess with the chinese navy?

they have stealth missile boats

dun pa lang sa taiwan strait e redundant na ang radar coverage

[userfriendly]

The Chinese have a modern navy. Its big enough to threaten the US navy's dominance of asia. I found a article that said the Chinese navy can have as many as:

6 nuclear attack subs
54 diesel subs
25 destroyers
49 frigates
85 missle armed patrol crafts
55 landing ships
3 nuclear missle subs
145 aircraft
34 helicopters

Thats just their navy. Does not include army and airforce assets.

Why would anyone want to mess with that?

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33153.pdf

[safeorigin]

di pa kasama diyan yung kinoconstruct na aircraft carrier with J-15's

[jonski]

Masaya ako dahil bumili ang Navy pero malungkot naman dahil yan ang binili.


Ok na sana kung pang coast guard lang gamit.. Tapos inalis pa mga ibang armanent and system sa Hamilton before ibibigay sa Navy.


Eto lang tanong ko. One on one.

Sino mananalo sa laban... Rajah Humabon or yung "bagong" Hamilton ng Pilipinas?

[tanatej]

That's all well and good but it should be used for anti-smuggling and illegal fishing.


Dahil kung gagamitin mo yang pang gera 5 minutes lang yan artificial reef na yan.

[Big_daddy]

agree...medyo luma na rin yung gamit nya...more for coastal patrol sya instead of frontline blue water operations.

[eld]

This ship should be renamed USS Tetanus. :hysterical: