BRP Jose Rizal. (File photo)
MANILA -- BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150), the country's first guided-missile frigate, exceeded design speed at endurance range during the ship's initial sea trial which was held last November 23 to 27 off South Korean waters.
"During the first sea trials, BRP Jose Rizal's speed was higher than her design speed at endurance range," Philippine Navy (PN) public affairs office chief Lt. Commander Maria Christina Roxas said in a message to the Philippine News Agency late Tuesday.
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 first sea trials, which was conducted in the waters of Ulsan, Busan, and Mokpo, had the frigate performing well even at Sea State Condition 4 where waves are known to reach between four to eight feet.
It was conducted to check the ship's performance and general seaworthiness. Also, she added that the second sea trials, which is focused on checking the ship's performance, noise, vibration measurement, and navigation equipment test is still ongoing having started on December 16 and will end on the 19th.
"(Present during the 2nd sea trials) are PN representatives, (ship-builder) Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) QM (quality management) technicians, OEM (original equipment manufacturer) engineers and Lloyd's Register of Shipping inspector," she added.
For the third and fourth sea trials, which are yet to be scheduled, Roxas said this will be more on testing the ship's various weapons systems.
The sea trials are the last phase of construction prior the frigate’s delivery to the Philippines scheduled tentatively in April or May 2020. This took place six months after the vessel was launched at the HHI shipyard for the first time at HHI shipyard in Ulsan last May 23.
"The PHP8 billion warship is a big-ticket acquisition of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that is poised to be the benchmark of PN’s transformation journey," Roxas earlier said.
Incidentally, BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151), the sistership of BRP Jose Rizal, was launched in the same facility last November 8. The contract for the two ships are placed at PHP16 billion with another PHP2 billion for weapon systems and munitions.
These ships are capable of conducting Anti-Air Warfare (AAW), Anti-Surface Warfare (ASUW), Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Electronic Warfare (EW) Operations and it is fully equipped with Surface-to-Air and Surface- to-Surface Missiles, torpedoes, launchers, and weapon systems. (PNA)
