Philippine Navy To Acquire More Acero-class Patrol Boats

Nov 29, 2022

By: Yulian Ardiansyah

The Philippine Navy (PN) plans to acquire 15 additional Israel-made Shaldag Mk V patrol boats, named the “Acero-class” patrol boats in the PN, to augment nine units that have been ordered in 2021, said the Philippine Navy chief Rear Adm. Toribio Adaci Jr. on Monday (Nov. 28).

Speaking after the commissioning ceremony of the BRP Nestor Acero (PG-901), and BRP Lolinato To-Ong (PG-902) that were already delivered to the PN last September, he further noted that four more Acero-class boats will be delivered sometime in 2023.

Under the 2021 contract, the last three of the type known in the PN as the Fast Attack Interdiction Craft Missiles (FAIC-Ms) will be built in the PN facility in Cavite beginning in 2024. Israeli Shipyards will assist the service to modernize the shipyard to prepare it for building these ships.

It still remains to be seen how many will be built at the Cavite shipyard if the follow-up contract for additional Acero-class FAIC-Ms materializes.

The Acero-class FAIC-M has a length of 32.65 meters, 6.2 meters beam, and a displacement of around 95 tonnes. It has a maximum speed of over 40 knots or a maximum range of about 1,000 nautical miles under a cruise speed of 12 knots.

Each of these nine Acero-class FAIC-Ms will be armed with a Rafael’s Typhoon MGS 30 mm cannon and two Mini Typhoon Remote Controlled Weapon Station (RCWS) with 12,7 mm machine guns. In addition, four of these boats will also be armed with Rafael’s Spike “Non-Line Of Sight” (NLOS) missile stations with eight launchers each.

The Rafael Spike NLOS is a surface-to-surface attack missile with a tandem HEAT warhead and a maximum range of about 25 km.

Source:

https://gbp.com.sg/stories/philippine-navy-to-acquire-more-acero-class-patrol-boats/