Smooth sailing from now on for Navy’s warship deal

From the Business Mirror (Apr 15): Smooth sailing from now on for Navy’s warship deal

Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana is expecting Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) to deliver the two frigates ordered for the Philippine Navy by 2020, as the South Korean contractor has started the manufacture and assembly of the twin warships.

The completion of the military ships, with a total contract price of P15.5 billion, commenced as the Navy had moved past the controversy surrounding the vessels’ acquisition, which Lorenzana now consider as “nonexistent” in the first place.

“There is nothing to settle because there was no issue on the contract, except the one manufactured by [Rear Adm. Ronald Joseph] Mercado to favor his preferred CMS [combat management system],” the defense chief said last week.

“The critical design review [CDR] has been approved by the PMT [project management team] and Hyundai on March 24, six months delayed, thanks to the meddling of Mercado. It should have been done last September,” Lorenzana added.

Mercado, the former Navy chief who held the rank of vice admiral, was allowed to officially retire last month without any charges while vainly and “manipulatively” fighting for Thales Tacticos’s CMS to the hilt, but failed.

Lorenzana said the “frigate program will go on smoothly from here on. We expect them to be delivered [by] 2020 and 2021.”

The twin frigates project, dubbed as the first for the Navy, started after the military’s Technical Inspection and Acceptance Committee (TIAC) for the Frigate Acquisition Project (FAP) had accepted HHI’s CDR on March 23, 2018.

The CDR’s acceptance was an approval of the 71 “critical detailed design drawings” for the 2,600-ton and missile-firing frigates that were equipped with sensors and systems for modern naval warfare.

“The next significant milestone will now be the ceremonial steel cutting, which will likely be held on April 30, 2018, at HHI Complex, Ulsan, South Korea, to be attended by a delegation from the Department of National Defense/Philippine Navy to mark this important milestone,” the Navy said in a news statement.

“Indeed, the completion of the CDR phase and the start of the steel cutting show that FAP is now moving forward without delays in accordance with the stipulations of the contract,” it added.

The frigate project encountered a “delay” after Mercado, then as the Navy chief, insisted the use of Tacticos’s CMS for the two warships that would be built, instead of the CMS of Hanwha, another South Korean firm that was chosen by HHI to deliver the system.

The CMS is considered as the “brain” of any military ship as it integrates its systems, including its weapons, sensors, communication and navigation, among others.

The issue of CMS, along with its compatibility with TDL 16 (tactical data link), has dragged the project as Mercado, who was relieved as Navy chief by Lorenzana for “loss of trust and confidence,” fought “tooth and nail” for the Dutch (Tacticos) systems against the contract.

The issue even reached the Senate and the House of Representatives, which separately conducted an investigation into the matter.

Thales Tacticos’s CMS is being used by 23 navies around the world, while the South Korean Navy only uses Hanwha’s program (Naval Shield), although the Malaysian Navy is about to use it for training purposes.

Tacticos’s system is also reportedly compatible with TDL 16, which is a C4ISTAR (command, control, communications, computers, information/intelligence, surveillance, targeting acquisition and reconnaissance) requirement of the military, while Hanwha’s own would be made available next year.

But Lorenzana said Hanwha’s NSICMS (Naval Shield Integrated Combat Management System) was also a proven program like that of Tacticos.

“The PQ [postqualification] team, when it postqualified Hyundai, went aboard ROKS Jeonbuk [FFG 813], one of the most modern frigates of the Republic of Korea Navy [ROKN] commissioned in May 2015, which was the basis for the design of the Philippine Navy frigates. The PQ team observed that most subsystems installed onboard the vessel are locally made [indigenous products] by South Korea, such as C-Star Missile by LIG Nex1, Main and Auxiliary Engines by STX-MTU and, more important, the NSICMS by Hanwha,” he said.

“This validates that the NSICMS is indeed a proven design. As a matter of fact, NSICMS has been installed in ROKS Daegu [FFG-818], the newest ROKN ship commissioned into service last February 18, 2018,” he added.

Navy Flag Officer in Command Rear Adm. Robert Empedrad said both the CMS of Tacticos and Hanwha have passed the evaluation and inspection of the Navy, and Hanwha’s Naval Shield could not even be considered as inferior to the Tacticos program.

Lorenzana reiterated that everything that involves the frigate project is governed by a contract, including HHI’s right to choose the CMS contractor for the warships that it will build.

The defense secretary said TDL 16 was also taken into account over the contract.

“[The] CMS shall be compatible with Link 16 [and] was part of the contract under the Tactical Data Link portion. During the one-week workshop held from September 26 to 30, 2016, the FAP TWG [technical working group], chaired by then-Commo. Robert A. Empedrad, AFP, requested HHI to include in the contract the phrase, ‘The CMS shall be compatible with Link 16’ because the Armed Forces of the Philippines plans to acquire TDL 16 sometime in the future,” Lorenzana said.

“During the SOBE [submission and opening of bid envelopes], this was not part of the technical requirements because what was initially required was just a space provided in the ship for the future installation of TDL1 6. Acceding to the Navy’s request, HHI agreed to insert in the contract the phrase, ‘The CMS shall be compatible with Link 16’ without additional cost. As agreed, HHI assures the [Philippine Department of National Defense] that the TDL 16 will be integrated with the NSICMS before the delivery of the two frigates,” he added.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/smooth-sailing-from-now-on-for-navys-warship-deal/