Department of National Defense to acquire more missiles for the new incoming ships

Department of National Defense to acquire more missiles for the new incoming ships

The Philippines will be acquiring more missile weaponry to arm its new ships, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana disclosed Thursday.

Lorenzana made the announcement after the successful test-firing of the Philippine Navy’s (PN) Rafael Advanced Defense Ltd. Spike-ER (extended range) surface-to-surface missile off Lamao Point in Limay, Bataan last August 9.

The weapon was fired from one of the PN’s three Spike-ER armed multi-purpose assault craft (MPACs).

The MPACs were constructed by the Subic-based Propmech Corporation and activated on May 22, 2017.

“We’re getting more of those (missile weaponry), because we’re planning (to acquire) more vessels. By the way, we have off-shore patrol vessels that we would order, six of which would be built here in the country. It will be built by Austal, which is a subsidiary of Austal in Australia, in Balamban, Cebu. All will be made in the Philippines,” Lorenzana said in a media interview.

Asked for the contract price for the six off-shore patrol vessels, the DND chief said he cannot give specific figures yet as the deal is still being finalized.

The DND chief said the implication of the August 9 Spike-ER missile test-firing is that it boosted the PN’s capability to efficiently employ such weapon in its operations.

“A Spike-ER missile was fired and accurately hit the designated target at approximately 6 KM (kilometers) away from the firing platform. The target was hit dead center even if the sea state condition was moderately rough with wave of at least one meter high but within the normal firing conditions of the missile,” PN spokesperson Cmdr. Jonathan Zata earlier said.

The PN MPAC Acquisition Project entered into a contract with Rafael, through SIBAT of the Israel Ministry of Defense, for the supply and integration of the weapons systems to MPAC Mark III platforms.

“Another actual live firing demonstration of the Spike ER missile will be scheduled with the Commander in-Chief, the President of the Philippines, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in attendance,” Zata said.

The Spike-ER system, which arrived in the country last April, is the PN’s first missile weapon, capable of penetrating 1,000 mm (39 inches) of rolled homogeneous armor and having a range of eight kilometers.

Source: https://www.ptvnews.ph/ph-acquire-missiles-new-ships/

Philippine Navy AW109 to conduct joint live firing training with MPACs

Philippine Navy AW109 to conduct joint live firing training with MPACs

Once weather conditions have improved, the Philippine Navy (PN) will conduct a comprehensive test of the Spike-ER surface-to-surface missiles and machine gun systems equipping three of its newly-activated multi-purpose assault craft (MPACs), Department of National Defense (DND) spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said.

"The test will showcase, test, and affirm the missile-capability of the newly-equipped Boat Attack (BA) Mark III vessels and to inform the general populace and other stakeholders of the PN's new assets and capabilities," he added.

The Navy was supposed to test fire its Spike-ER missiles and other MPAC weaponry off Corregidor last July 17, 18, 24 and 26 but inclement weather conditions caused the postponement and rescheduling of the exercise to August.

Aside from the missile-armed boats, the PN will also deploy its AgustaWestland AW-109 attack helicopters which are armed with 2.75-inch rockets and .50 caliber machineguns to showcase the inter-operability of its air and surface assets.

Tentatively, the weapons test will be started by the AW-109 attack helicopters firing its machineguns at designated targets, followed by MPACs firing its guns, followed by another run, using the Spike-ER missiles.

Andolong said that Naval Task Force-Jerusalem was formed to supervise and monitor the above-mentioned exercise. The Spike-ER equipped MPACs are the Navy's Batch 3 MPACs which was constructed by the Subic-based Propmech Corporation and activated on May 22, 2017.

The Spike-ER system, which arrived in the country last April, is the PN's first missile weapon capable penetrating 1,000 mm (39 inches) of rolled homogeneous armor and having a range of eight kilometers.