Quezon city: The Philippine Navy (PN) is set to undertake a comprehensive Joint Visual Inspection (JVI) of the Japanese Abukuma-class destroyer escorts, which are being considered for transfer to the Filipino naval service upon decommissioning by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), an official disclosed on Tuesday. "We will be very thorough with the assessment that we'll be conducting. We will be inspecting six 109-meter ships, systems, weapon systems, hull, machinery," PN spokesperson Capt. John Percie Alcos stated during a media briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
According to Philippines News Agency, the inspection team will be comprised of surface warfare officers, sea systems experts, financial analysts, and logisticians. Their recommendations will be based on the outcomes of the inspection, which is scheduled for next month and expected to last for two weeks. "The PN will be sending (recommendations) based on what will be known, or what will be inspected, or the results of the JVI. We'll be forwarding appropriate recommendations to General Headquarters and the Department of National Defense," Alcos mentioned.
One of the key objectives of the JVI is to ascertain the remaining service life of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts. "That will be known upon the conduct or after the conduct of the JVI. That is actually the objective of the JVI, to determine the operational viability of the transfer," Alcos explained. If transferred, these ships would significantly boost the PN's capabilities to support the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept, which focuses on enhancing the country's capacity to safeguard its entire territory, including its exclusive economic zone.
Alcos also noted the similarity between the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts and the PN's Jose Rizal-class guided missile frigates acquired from South Korea in 2020 and 2021. "These (ships are) very similar in terms of gross tonnage, speed, length to the Jose Rizal-class frigates. These destroyer escorts also have specific capabilities that we require: anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, electronic warfare, anti-air warfare," Alcos added.
The Abukuma-class destroyer escorts have a displacement of 2,000 gross tons, a length of 109 meters, and a beam of 44 meters. They boast a top speed of 27 knots and are equipped with various anti-ship missiles, anti-submarine rockets, and torpedoes, along with a 76mm main gun and a 20mm closed-in weapon system. The JMSDF operated this class of six ships, constructed between 1988 and 1991.
