Hensoldt UK announced on 6 August the successful delivery of a complete radar suite for the Philippine Navy’s newest surface warfare combatant, BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150), the lead ship for the Jose Rizal-class of multi-mission frigates.
Hensoldt UK Radar Suite
Hensoldt UK said in its statement that the radar suite centres on the C-band TRS-3D multimode naval air and surface search radar. According to company specifications, the phased array system can perform automatic detection and tracking of multiple simultaneous targets – especially small, fast and low-flying aircraft, missiles, as well as hovering helicopters and other asymmetric threats – in heavy clutter and countermeasures-polluted environments at instrumented ranges of up to 200 kilometres depending on the settings.
The radar suite also includes the Kelvin Hughes SharpEye Mk11 S- and X-band navigation radars, which feature the latter’s advanced solid state SharpEye Doppler technology that is designed to function in unfavourable sea conditions. The radars’ transceivers are protected within a carbon composite turning unit housing and employs a direct drive motor instead of the traditional antenna rotator gearbox to reduce maintenance.
The MSSR 2000 I identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) radar completes the supplied package.
Modernisation Programme
“Hensoldt UK is pleased to be part of the modernisation of the Philippine Navy,” said head of sales Adrian Pilbeam. “The supply radar sensor suite from Hensoldt demonstrates the strength of the combined group in providing complete naval radar solutions.”
BRP Jose Rizal is one of two frigates ordered in 2016 at a cost of US$337 million under the Horizon 1 phase of the Revised AFP Modernisation Programme, was due to depart shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries’ (HHI’s) facility in Ulsan and was commissioned on 10 July.
The José Rizal-class is derived from HHI’s HDF-3000 design, which is in turn a variant of the Incheon-class frigates commissioned into Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN) service between 2013 and 2016.
BRP Jose Rizal Frigate
The frigate is 107 metres long and 14 metres in beam. It is powered by a combined diesel and diesel (CODAD) propulsion system that enables it to operate out to 4,500 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 15 knots. It can also sprint at speeds of over 25kts.
The ship has an integral helicopter deck and hangar to support a medium naval helicopter. This will likely be one of two Leonardo AW159 naval helicopters that were recently acquired.
Sister ship, BRP Antonio Luna is under construction and will be delivered by the end of 2020.
by Jr Ng
