In October the Philippine Navy (PN) Frigate Acquisition Project (FAP) awarded a contract to Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) to build two 2,600 ton frigates to be delivered from 2020. Kelvin Hughes (part of Hensoldt) will supply HHI with two SharpEye navigation radars along with multifunction bridge radar displays as part of the contract.
The new PN ships (hull numbers P159 and P160) will feature enhanced survivability, seakeeping and manoeuvring capability, stealth characteristics and be operable in up to Sea State 5. The vessels will be further complemented by the low Radar Cross Section (RCS) design of the upmast SharpEye radar sensor carbon fibre housing and antenna turning unit. The SharpEye’s 300W low power output further protects the ship from intercepts by Electronic Support Measures (ESM).
Mark Butler, regional sales manager at Kelvin Hughes said: “SharpEye is ideally suited to frigates, corvettes and OPVs operating in high clutter conditions and for navies undertaking modernisation programmes where the upmast equipment contributes to the stealth or RCS reduction requirements. I am extremely pleased that Kelvin Hughes is working with HHI on this project.”
Earlier in September Kelvin Hughes was also contracted by HHI to supply the Integrated Navigation Bridge System (INBS) for the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) Maritime Sustainment Capability (MSC) Vessel.
