BRP Jose Rizal (FF-150)


BRP Jose Rizal is the lead ship of her class of frigate of the Philippine Navy. She is also the first purpose-built frigate of the service, as its major warships were mostly transferred from other navies and reclassified as frigates. She will become one of the service's primary warships and take over multi-role operations such as coast patrol and anti-submarine warfare.

Construction and Design

The BRP Jose Rizal was designed and built by South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries and was based on the HDF-2600 frigate design, which in turn was derived from the Incheon-class frigate of the Republic of Korea Navy.
Changes were made on the base design by making use of design features found on newer frigate designs for the ROKN like the Incheon-class' successor the Daegu-class frigate, considering reduced radar cross-section by having cleaner lines and smooth surface design, and reduced overhangs. It also features a low free-board design similar also to the Daegu-class and the HTMS Bhumibol Adulyadej of the Royal Thai Navy.
It was assigned the project number P159 by HHI, and the First Steel Cutting ceremony was held on 1 May 2018 in HHI's shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea.
The Keel Laying ceremony was held on 16 October 2018, and the Launching was held on 23 May 2019. The ship was delivered to the Philippine Navy on May 23, 2020 and was commissioned on 10 July 2020. The commissioning was delayed after one of the ship's 65 crew tested positive for COVID-19 amidst a pandemic.