OVERVIEW of the POHANG-Class CORVETTE Flight III
The Pohang-class corvette is designated as Patrol Combat Corvette as a derivative of the Donghae-Class. The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) operated a maximum of 24 locally-made corvettes. The lead ship of this class is the ROKS Pohang (PCC-756), was commissioned on December 1984.
The Pohang-Class provided increased in size and improve performance and the improvements on sensors and weapon systems. This also fit to accommodate anti-ship missile systems. Construction of the Ship class was divided into 3 of the South Korea's foremost naval shipbuilders such as Korea Tacoma Shipbuilding (now Hanjin Heavy Industries), Hyundai Heavy Industries and the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.
WHAT SHIP to be TRANSFERRED to the PHILIPPINE NAVY?
The Ship transfer is highly appreciates as a "GIFT" by the Philippine Navy and the Korean government said it is a token of appreciation for the sacrifices made by Filipino Soldiers during the Korean War. Also this donation came after we bought a dozen of FA-50 Fighting Eagle and the eight Korea Armored Amphibious Vehicles (KAAVs).
The ROKS-Chonju (PCC-762), built by Korea Tacoma Shipyard, will be transfer to Philippine Navy. It was commissioned with the Republic of Korea Navy in 1987 and served until December 2016. The Ship is 20 years younger than the Del Pilar-class frigate acquired by the Philippine Navy, a former Hamilton-class cutter from the US coast guard.
POHANG-CLASS SPECIFICATIONS
The Pohang-Class (PCC-762), is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) version of the 4 ships class. It has a length of 88.3 meters, a beam of 10.0 meters and a depth of 2.9 meters. It has a displacement of 1,220 tons at full load. It has a maximum speed of 32 knots using gas turbine engine. And it has a range of 4,000 nautical miles at 15 knots.
The engine is a Combination of Diesel and Gas (CODOG) configuration which has a 1 GE LM-2500 gas turbine and two MTU 12V956 TB82 diesel engines.The sensors and radars comprise of Raytheon AN/SPS-64v surface search and navigation radar, Signal WM-28 Fire Control System and Signal LIOD (Lightweight Optronic Director) for targeting system. It also has a Raytheon AN/SQS-58 hull mounted sonar and a Ferranti WSA 423 combat data system.
The weapons and armaments of the ships are the 2 Oto Melara 76 mm/62 Compact Guns, 2 Breda twin 40 mm/70 guns. Oto Melara gun has a rate of fire of 120 rounds a minute and a range of 16 kilometers. And one Mistral/Chiron MANPADS launcher added on later years. For anti-submarine warfare, is has two Mk. 32 324 mm ASW triple torpedo tubes and it can launch six torpedoes against submarine. The torpedo travels at a speed of 45 knots and it is equipped with active and passive homing with a 44.5 kilogram of warhead. There are two Mark 9 Depth Charge racks with six charges in each rack.
The Ships equipped with Mel Protean chaff launchers. Each Launcher comprise of four cells, with 36 grenades. The magazine can also replaced with three IR flare containers, each accommodating 21 decoys. Other countermeasures include Thorn Electromagnetic Interference or Nobel Tech intercept or jamming.
Anti-SUBMARINE Warfare Training Ship
The Philippine Navy has no warship with Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability is the primary reason to acquire the Pohang-class. The Philippine Navy will have the capability in detecting and hunting submarines and provides actual training to its personnel.
The anti-submarine warfare training is very important to the Philippine Navy since it is expecting the delivery of two new ASW frigates in 2019, thus provides potential crew members. The Republic of Korea Navy will assist in the training of the Philippine Navy personnel in ASW and also it will get assistance from other friendly navies in ASW warfare knowledge and experience.
Future Plans and Upgrades
In the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program Horizon Phase two, the Philippine Navy has requested funding for a combat management system upgrade for a single Pohang Class Corvette which is submitted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Department of National Defense to the office of the President. This will give the Philippine Navy a capability to install heavier weapons systems like anti-ship missiles. Also this will enable them to upgrade Sonar, Radars and Fire and Control System.
The Philippine Navy wanted to have at least three units of Pohang Class Corvettes in it's fleet. This will make reasonable for the Philippine Navy in both operation and logistics points of view. A single Pohang class ship does not make sense in operating since its parts and systems are not currently in logistics and maintenance chain. The Pohang Class ship is expected to replace some of the World War 2-era assets of the Philippine Navy. These world war 2-era assets are expected to retire from service by the year 2020.
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