BRP Andrés Bonifacio during Exercise RIMPAC 2018 sea phase.
History
United States
NameUSCGC Boutwell
BuilderAvondale Shipyards
Launched17 June 1967
Commissioned24 June 1968
Decommissioned16 March 2016
IdentificationWHEC-719
FateTransferred to Philippine Navy
Philippines
NameBRP Andrés Bonifacio
NamesakeAndrés Bonifacio y de Castro
Acquired21 July 2016[1]
Commissioned21 July 2016
Maiden voyage1 November 2016
Identification
MottoSemper Paratus (Always Ready)
StatusIn active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeGregorio del Pilar-class offshore patrol vessel
Displacement3,250 tons
Length378 ft (115.2 m)
Beam43 ft (13.1 m)
Draft15 ft (4.6 m)
Propulsion
Speed29 kn (53.7 km/h; 33.4 mph)
Range14000 nmi (25928 km)
Endurance45 days
Boats & landing
craft carried		2 × RHIB
Complement80
Sensors and
processing systems
Electronic warfare
& decoys
Armament
Armor
  • CBRNE defense system [4]
  • steel hull, aluminium superstructure
Aircraft carried1 × AW109E Power naval helicopter
Aviation facilities
  • flight deck
  • retractable hangar

BRP Andrés Bonifacio (PS-17) is the third ship of the Gregorio del Pilar-class offshore patrol vessels of the Philippine Navy.[5] She is the second ship of the Philippine Navy to be named after Andrés Bonifacio, a Filipino revolutionary leader, regarded as the "Father of the Philippine Revolution" and one of the most influential national heroes of the Philippines.

She was originally designated upon commissioning as "FF-17". In February 2019, the Navy downgraded the status of the entire class from frigate to patrol ship and redesignated her to "PS-17".[6]

Design

The ship was designed with a high level of habitability and provides fairly comfortable accommodations, including air conditioning.[7]

Propulsion

The Andres Bonifacio employs the shipboard application of aircraft gas turbine jet engines with the use of controllable pitch propellers. She is equipped with two 18,000 horsepower (13,000 kW) Pratt & Whitney[8] gas turbines and can propel the ship at speeds up to 28 knots (52 km/h). Ramon Alcaraz also has two 3,500 horsepower (2,600 kW) Fairbanks-Morse[8] diesel engines, capable of driving the ship economically at 17 knots (31 km/h) for up to 14,400 nautical miles (26,700 km) without refueling.[8] A retractable/rotatable bow propulsion unit provides manoeuvrability in tight situations.

Armament

Prior to turn-over to the Philippine Navy, the ship was armed with a Mk.75 Oto Melara 76mm/62cal Compact main gun, two Mk.38 25 mm Bushmaster chain guns at midships, and a Phalanx CIWS system aft.[9] The CIWS and chain guns were removed prior to its turn-over, with the Mk.75 gun remaining.

Flight support

Andres Bonifacio has a flight deck and hangar capable of handling helicopters.

The Philippine Navy uses the AgustaWestland AW109E Power naval helicopter as its standard helicopter for the entire class.

Modernization

The Philippine Navy plans to modernize the entire ship of the class, with an initial program to upgrade the ship's sensors, and another program to improve its weapon systems.

Several systems were acquired through US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and Foreign Military Financing (FMF), which includes the BAE Systems Mk. 38 Mod. 2 machine gun system, the SAAB AN/SPS-77 Sea Giraffe AMB 3D air/surface search radar,[10] and the FLIR Systems SeaFLIR 230 Electro-Optical/Infra-Red Camera.[11]

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 (CMS), Hull Mounted Sonar (HMS), and a Radar Electronic Support Measures (R-ESM).[12]

Future upgrades are planned to install defensive and offensive missile systems, as well as torpedo weapon system,[13] although funding is still being secured and might only be included in the next phase of the Navy's modernization program.

In 2020 October 14, Navy chief Giovanni Carlo Bacordo revealed the completion of the 3D modeling program for the entire ship class' cabling systems to be used for their electronic upgrades (CMS + 4 sensors).[14]

History

From 1967 to 2016, the ship was a Hamilton-class high endurance cutter of the United States Coast Guard that was named USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719). The U.S. decommissioned the cutter in early 2016 and the Philippines acquired it under the Excess Defense Articles and the Foreign Assistance Act.[5][15]

The frigate was formally received by the Philippine Navy on July 21, 2016, and commissioned to service on the same day at the USCG base at Alameda, California.[16][1] She arrived in Manila on December 9, 2016[17] after port visit in Guam on December 5, 2016.[18]

Notable operational deployments

In April 2019, the BRP Andres Bonifacio had an unplanned encounter at sea with the frigate Wu Chang (FFG-1205) of the Taiwanese Navy near the Mavulis Island in Batanes. The two ships implemented the Naval Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) during the encounter. The Wu Chang was monitoring the activity at Mavulis while the BRP Bonifacio was on its way to South Korea.[19]

Exercises

The BRP Andres Bonifacio was sent to Malaysia for its first international deployment as a Philippine Navy ship, to be the Philippines' representative in the LIMA 2017 from March 21 to 26, 2017.[20] The ship also had a port call at the Lumut Naval Base in Perak, Malaysia and conducted joint exercises with the Royal Malaysian Navy,[21] before docking at Port Klang, Selangor, Malaysia for a goodwill visit from March 30 to April 3, 2017.[22]

From June to early August 2018, the ship participated in the RIMPAC 2018 together with the BRP Davao del Sur (LD-602) Landing Platform Dock.[23] This is the first time that the Philippine Navy sent ships to the world's largest International Maritime Exercise which is held biennially in Hawaii.[24] Among the events the ship participated at RIMPAC were a one-day "Open Ship" Guided Ship Tour for the public where the Seabees Band had a Live-Band performance for the ship's visitors.[25]

The ship participated on a Visit, board, search, and seizure operation during Balikatan 2019.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Adel, Rosette (2016-11-01). "Philippine Navy's Third Frigate Set to Sail Home". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  2. 1 2 Saunders, Stephen: Jane's Fighting Ships 107th Edition 2004–2005. Jane's Information Group Ltd, 2004.
  3. ↑ Saunders, Stephen (2013). IHS Jane's Fighting Ships 2013–2014. IHS. p. 614. ISBN 978-0-7106-3048-3.
  4. ↑ "BRP Jose Rizal crew protected from chemical, nuclear attack". pna.gov.ph. 28 February 2020. This ability is also present in the 3 Del Pilar-class
  5. 1 2 "US Ship to be Turned Over to PH Navy". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2023-09-22. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  6. ↑ "Del Pilar-class frigates redesignated as patrol ships". Philippine News Agency. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  7. ↑ "History of USCGC Hamilton (WHEC-715)". USCGC Hamilton (WHEC-715) official web site. United States Coast Guard. 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  8. 1 2 3 "WHEC 378' Hamilton class". GlobalSecurity.org. 2005-04-27. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  9. ↑ "WHEC 378' Hamilton class". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  10. ↑ "U.S. Green Lights FMS of AN/SPS-77 Sea Giraffe Radar for Philippines Navy Hamilton-class Cutters". Navy Recognition. 2016-12-14. Archived from the original on 2021-09-07. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  11. ↑ Montero, Max (2018-05-23). "MaxDefense Philippines 23 May 2018". MaxDefense Philippines. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  12. ↑ "In-Details: Upgrading the Del Pilar-class Frigates". Pitz Defense Analysis. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  13. ↑ "Navy patrol vessels to get weapons upgrade". Philippine News Agency. 22 February 2020.
  14. ↑ Nepomoceno, Priam (14 October 2020). "3D modeling for Del Pilar vessels upgrades now completed: Navy". PH: Philippine News Agency (PNA).
  15. ↑ Jordan, Bryant (10 October 2015). "After Decades of Service, USCGC Boutwell Makes Final Fleet Week Cruise". Military.com. San Francisco: Military Advantage. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  16. ↑ "Formal Turn-over of US Ship to Ph Navy". Subic Bay News. July 27, 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  17. ↑ "BRP Andres Bonifacio Arrives in Manila" (Press release). Philippine Information Agency. December 10, 2016. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  18. ↑ "BRP Andres Bonifacio Docks at Guam on Bonifacio Day" (Press release). Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs. December 5, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Taiwan and Philippine Navies have unexpected encounter at Sea"
  20. ↑ "Philippine Navy Participates in LIMA 2017". Manila Bulletin (Press release). 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  21. ↑ "BRP Andres Bonifacio's Kuala Lumpur Visit Highlights Deepening PH-Malaysia Partnership" (Press release). Department of Foreign Affairs, Republic of the Philippines. 2017-04-04. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  22. ↑ "Phl Navy Frigate on Goodwill Visit to Port Klang, Malaysia on March 30" (Press release). Embassy of the Philippines Kuala Lumpur. 2017-03-28. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  23. ↑ Laude, Jaime (27 July 2018). "2 Philippine Navy ships in Hawaii for RIMPAC exercises". Philstar Global. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  24. ↑ Bondoc, Marlly Rome (2018-06-06). "PHL Navy contingent sails to Hawaii for world's largest maritime exercise". GMA News Online. Archived from the original on 2023-09-22. Retrieved 2023-09-22.
  25. ↑ Nepomuceno, Priam (10 July 2018). "PH ships in RIMPAC opened for public tour". Philippine News Agency. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2023.

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