๐ฐ๐ท๐ต๐ญ | The 3rd and 4th additional ships of the Philippine Navy's Miguel Malvar-class frigates to be armed with K-VLS and K-SAAM (Haegung) surface-to-air missiles. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries starts building the 3rd 3,200-ton frigate
๐ฐ๐ท๐ต๐ญ | It has been confirmed that the two additional 3,200-ton Miguel Malvar-class frigates for the Philippine Navy (future FFG-8 and FFG-9) will be armed with the Korean Vertical Launching System (K-VLS) and LIG D&A's K-SAAM (Haegung) surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). This was revealed in a post by MaxDefense Philippines.
The new frigates will carry K-VLS and K-SAAM (Haegung) surface-to-air missiles instead of VL MICA missiles. The K-VLS can configure small, short-range surface-to-air missiles such as the Haegung (K-SAAM) in quad-packs, allowing up to 4 missiles per cell. The K-VLS can launch not only surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) but also SSMs, as well as cruise, anti-ship, and attack missiles. According to an acquaintance in the Ministry of National Defense press corps, the Navy prefers a VLS that can fire both SAMs and SSMs.
On the 4th, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries announced that it held a steel-cutting ceremony for the Philippine Navy's 3rd 3,200-ton Miguel Malvar-class frigate, officially starting construction. A steel-cutting ceremony is an event in which the first steel plate to be used in building a ship is cut, marking the start of the full-scale construction process. Attending the ceremony were Vice President Kim San, head of the Ship Safety and Production Division at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, and Philippine Navy officials. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries aims to deliver this newly built frigate (future FFG-9) ahead of the original schedule, sooner than expected. This frigate is scheduled to be delivered in early 2028. The two ships are scheduled to be delivered in 2029 afterward, but HD Hyundai Heavy Industries plans to deliver them earlier than originally planned. The Philippine Navy has acquired a total of 12 warships from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries: 2 Jose Rizal-class frigates, 2 Miguel Malvar-class frigates, 6 Sulaiman-class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), and 2 additional Miguel Malvar-class frigates.
This frigate, the first of the 2 additional Miguel Malvar-class frigates, was approved for acquisition in December 2025 under the Frigate Acquisition Project Phase 2 (Full Complement), a platform project that includes the launch system. This is part of the Philippine Navy and Armed Forces modernization goals being pursued by the Marcos Jr. administration.
In the 2010s all we had were retired coast guard cutters. Compared to now, couldn't we say the Philippine Navy is the fastest modernizing navy in the world?
The nature of warfare is changing. Big ships like these are easy targets for unmanned surface vessels (USVs) or unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). I wonder how they'd defend against that. Here in Japan, the government is selling or donating its crewed ships and moving toward unmanned drones and unmanned vehicles.
Nice, now we can look forward to domestic military drone production too.
I hope it becomes a good deterrent against China's increasingly aggressive moves.
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