Del Pilar-class offshore patrol vessel
The Del Pilar class is a class of three offshore patrol vessels currently in service with the Philippine Navy and the foremost surface combatants of the fleet. These ships were formerly used by the US Coast Guard as Hamilton-class high endurance cutters. The ships were designed with a high level of habitability and provides fairly comfortable accommodations, including air conditioning, a first for the Philippine Navy.
History
Early in 2011, the Philippine Navy announced the acquisition of an ex-US Coast Guard Hamilton-class high-endurance cutter under the "Ocean-going Escort Vessel" project through the US Excess Defense Article programme. The ship acquired was the former USCGC Hamilton, renamed BRP Gregorio del Pilar which was officially turned over to the Philippine Navy on 13 May 2011 at Alameda Point in California. It was retrofitted and modified in the US, replacing systems removed by the USCG. The ship's arrival ceremonies were on 23 August 2011 in Manila, and it was commissioned on 14 December 2011.A second Hamilton-class cutter, the USCGC Dallas, was turned over to the Philippine Navy on 22 May 2012 with ceremonies held at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Pier Papa in North Charleston, South Carolina. The ship was named BRP Ramon Alcaraz in Philippine Navy service. Like its sister ship, it was retrofitted and modified in the US, replacing systems removed by the USCG. It was expected to arrive in the Philippines by February 2013. However, further training and unspecified upgrades on the ship pushed the arrival of the BRP Ramon Alcaraz to August 2013. The ship's arrival ceremony was held at Subic Harbor on August 6, 2013, led by President Aquino. It was commissioned on Nov. 22, 2013.
A third Hamilton-class cutter was turned over to the Philippine Navy after US President Barack Obama announced that another high endurance cutter will be transferred to the Philippines during his visit to the BRP Gregorio del Pilar on November 17, 2015. The White House subsequently confirmed that the USCGC Boutwell will be the ship that will be transferred to the Philippines. The ship was commissioned into service on July 21, 2016 and was renamed BRP Andres Bonifacio unlike her sister ships which was given PF designation upon commissioning. This was because BRP Andrés Bonifacio entered service after the Philippine Navy made changes to their Ship Classification.
The class, designated as Frigates , would be re-designated as Patrol Ships to better reflect their limited capabilities.
Design
Propulsion
The Del Pilar class are the first Philippine military vessels to employ the now common shipboard application of aircraft gas turbine jet engines with the use of controllable pitch propellers. The class are equipped with two Pratt & Whitney gas turbines and can propel the ship at speeds up to. The class also has two Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines, capable of driving the ship economically at for up to without refueling. A retractable/rotatable bow propulsion unit provides manoeuvrability in tight situations.Armaments
Prior to turn-over to the Philippine Navy, the Hamilton-class cutters were armed with a Mk 75 Oto Melara 76 mm Compact main gun, two Mk 38 M242 Bushmaster 25mm chain gun at midships, and a Phalanx CIWS system aft. The CIWS and chain guns were removed by the United States Coast Guard prior to turn-over, with the Mk 75 gun remaining.The Philippine Navy installed a Mk 38 Mod 1 25mm chain gun and two Mk 16 20mm Oerlikon autocannons to the PS-15, and six.50-caliber machine guns on both the PS-15 and PS-16.
The Philippines ordered two new Mk 38 Mod 2 25mm chain gun systems in 2012, and these are expected to be installed to the ships of the class. On Feb. 17, 2014, it was reported that said chain guns were in the Philippines, waiting for the U.S. Coast Guard armament team for installation. As of January 25, 2015, 2 Mk. 38 Mod. 2 25mm guns had been installed on PF-16.
Another set of Mk 38 chain guns, this time in Mod 3 variant were ordered in October 2015, and another contract for 2 units of Mk 38 Mod 3 25mm chain guns were ordered in September 2016. The first set of 2 units was installed on BRP Gregorio del Pilar on early June 2019.
Flight Support
The Del Pilar class has a flight deck and hangar capable of handling helicopters. A BO-105 light surveillance helicopter was initially assigned to BRP Gregorio del Pilar, and was replaced by the newer AW109E Power helicopter. The helicopters first made their shipboard deployment on May 21, 2014.Modernization
It was also reported that the Philippine Navy is planning further upgrades for the entire ship class. The upgrades will feature upgrades for navigation, propulsion, communication, surveillance, and weapons systems.Several systems were acquired through US Foreign Military Sales and Foreign Military Financing, which includes the BAE Systems Mk 38 Mod 2 chain guns, the SAAB AN/SPS-77 Sea Giraffe AMB 3D air/surface search radar, and the FLIR Systems SeaFLIR 230 Electro-Optical/Infra-Red Camera.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Navy will launch a program to acquire, install and integrate several other sensors into the ship, as part of the Horizon 2 phase of the Revised AFP Modernization Program. Among those to be acquired are new Combat Management System, Hull Mounted Sonar, and a Radar Electronic Support Measures. In 2019, the DND, together with the Hanwha Group signed a contract for the Del Pilar-class Frigate Upgrade Project, which will install the Hanwha Systems Naval Shield Baseline 2 ICMS, the same CMS of the Jose Rizal-class frigates, along with the integration of a Hull Mounted Sonar, the Radar Electronic Support Measures, and the navigation and existing weapon systems.
On February 21, 2020, the navy plans to install a Mark 46 torpedo system in the ships to complement with the Hull Mounted Sonar for anti-submarine operations.