South Korean firm to fortify PHL frigates

Navy chief Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad on Wednesday said Hanwha Thales of South Korea will be the one providing the combat management system (CMS) for the two frigates acquired by the government.

Asked by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on the official stand of Philippine Navy on the CMS, Empedrad said based on the contract signed by the Department of National Defense, Hyundai Heavy industries, the one that will build the  frigate, already made its choice to install Hanwha systems.

“It’s a done deal,” Empredrad said during the Commission on Appointments hearing on the confirmation of his promotion.

He added that Hyundai already found all the subcontractors for other items such as the missiles, torpedoes and other significant subsystems of the frigate.

“There is no way that the Philippine Navy can reverse the decision of  Hyundai?” Gatchalian asked, to which Empredrad replied that the Navy, as the end user, has no control over the decision.

“It is the Department of National Defense who signed the contract and the Navy will just advise the DND how to implement the project smoothly,” he said.

He insisted that Hanwha and Tacticos Thales have the same function, when Senator JV Ejercito asked about his preference.

“The difference between Thales and Hanwha as far as the technical working group of Navy is concerned is just the sales of the Thales,” Empredrad said, noting that Tacticos is being used by 22 other navies in the world.

“But as far as the functionality of the CMS is concerned, there is nothing Tacticos of the Netherlands can do that the Hanwha of Korean can’t do,” he said.

He added that as to the technical specification, the two CMS match the requirements of the Philippine Navy.

“So if we are going to pay P700 million just to get Thales, I would rather buy a close in weapon system to be placed on the ship that will protect the ship from incoming missiles,” he said. 

The procurement of the frigates became controversial and became the subject of a Senate investigation after it was reported that Special Assistant to the President Christopher "Bong" Go intervened in the selection of the CMS.

Go had belied claims that he at least saw the controversial white paper that linked him to the Philippine Navy frigate project, saying that he is not privy to the transaction of the DND. —KBK, GMA News