MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Navy’s second multi-role warship, the future BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151), already conducted second sea trials in South Korea.
The Navy on Thursday (Dec. 10) released photos of the Rizal-class frigate in her second week of sea trials in waters off Ulsan, South Korea.
This followed the first round of sea trials of Luna last August. The ship is expected to be delivered to the Philippines by mid-February 2021.
The Luna is the second ship after BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150), which entered the service last July. The two ships were built by South Korean company Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) for P16 billion.
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HHI earlier failed to officially provide the required Link 16 certification from the US prior to the delivery of Jose Rizal. As a result, it offered to finance the ships’ expenses for the full integration of combat management systems to Link 16 should problems arise when it acquires this capability in the future.
The South Korean government provided a sovereign guarantee supporting the contractor’s guarantee to resolve the issue.