With the Philippine coastline placed at 36,289 kilometers (equivalent to 22,549 miles), it is only fitting that focus be given on the Philippine Navy's modernization.
Giving the necessary funds to the Navy to acquire modern and well-armed ships, helicopters and other aircraft will allow the PN to develop its capability to protect and monitor the country's territorial waters against intruders.
As of this writing, the Navy has been allocated P5.3 billion by the Aquino administration for its upgrade.
It has used the money in acquiring two Hamilton-class cutters, the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar (PF-15) in 2011 and the BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PF-16) in 2013 and the three AgustaWestland AW-109 "Power" helicopters, also last year.
From 2014 up to 2016, the PN is expecting the delivery of P6.4 billion worth of equipment, including the acquisition of two strategic sea-lift vessels, two armed versions of the AW-109s helicopters, and around 12 to 20 amphibious vehicles for the Philippine Marine Corps.
Navy spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Fabic earlier said that they are very excited with the way things are going for the PN modernization.
With these equipment, he stressed that the Navy's maritime domain awareness capability has been greatly improved.
Another development being eagerly awaited by the PN is the ongoing bidding at the Department of National Defense for its two brand-new frigates whose contract price is placed at P18 billion.
The shape, size and capabilities of these ships will be determined once the workshop for qualified proponents starts this February.
This was revealed by DND Undersecretary Fernando Manalo.
"The workshop will allow the proponents to present their proposed specifications. The data/information that will be generated during the workshops will be used by the Navy in formulating the final TOR (terms of reference)," DND Undersecretary Fernando Manalo said.
Each proponent has a working week (around five days) to present its design to the PN technical working group and its private consultants.
As of this posting, only four shipbuilders have successfully passed the first stage of the bidding for the P18-billion frigate project.
These are Navantia Sepi (RTR Ventures) of
The second phase involves the inspection of company eligibility documents.
Three other shipbuilding firms joined the bidding but the DND declared their documents to be deficient.
These companies, identified as Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd. of India, STX France SA and Thyssenkrupp Marine System, have filed a motion for reconsideration at the DND.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=10&sid=&nid=10&rid=611806
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