Portuguese Navy warships were offered to the Philippine Navy and other countries, MaxDefense Philippines said in its social networking page today. These warships, according to Max Defense, are under the Joao Coutinho and Baptista de Andrade classes of corvettes.
MaxDefense added that Philippine Navy inspectors who participated in Joint Visual Inspection (JVI) recommended to Navy headquarters to acquire warships in the Joao Coutinho-class.
“The ships were found to be in very good condition, with the Joao Coutinho-class in better condition than the Baptista de Andrade-class despite being older, and is even better than the Del Pilar-class frigates obtained from the US,” MaxDefense added.
The recommendation, an initial order of one or two Joao Coutinho-class corvettes with the goal of acquiring at least three units, will be forwarded to Department of National Defense for processing and approval.
A total of six Joao Coutinho-class corvettes entered the Portuguese Navy from 1970 to 1971, and were decommissioned last year.
MaxDefense said these warships seems to be filling the gap while the Navy’s Multi-Purpose Patrol Vessel (MPPV) project is in progress. This MPPV project aims to acquire 6 to 9 warships to replace the Navy’s World War 2-era warships.
“To those claiming that this is a false report, better check your sources again. MaxDefense won’t be posting this if there is no such project. Do not underestimate our sources,” MaxDefense noted.
MaxDefense Philippines, is being managed by Max Montero, an Australia-based defense analyst and a former naval reservist officer in the Philippine Navy.
(Update)
More scrap metal for the Navy. Seriously why need to buy ships that almost half century old to 'fill the gap' before this newer MPPV arrive? Better save the money for newer corvette or frigates. I guess the navy do this because they not sure wether MPPV will ever go through.
BalasHapusDont be a dick. They're starting to modernize the Navy. Wait a decade later to really see if the Phil Navy and goverment really committed on modernizing the Navy.
HapusThe MPPV is sure to go through because it is Pres. Duterte himself who is pushing and making follow up on this project. Those corvettes are in good condition according to PN inspectors and to top it all, it is very cheap.
Hapusbetter buy 1 or 2 small yet lethal corvettes...philippines could source its from Singapore like what Oman does! reasonable yet modern/proven design from STE Marine,
BalasHapusThere are 9 PN WW2 vessels to be retired soon, we are talking only of 3. PN needs more to fill the gap because it would take 2-3 years before the new MPPVs arrive
Hapus@Saiful 1 or two hi-tech lethal corvettes are not practical especially in our vast open seas. we need more patrol corvettes with Anti-submarine capabilities whether its second hand or brandnew
Hapus