AS the military implements the second of its three-phased multibillion-peso modernization program, a local shipbuilder has offered to help the Navy by supplying it with locally built modern small and big warships.
Propmech, based in Subic, is keen on designing and delivering the requirement of state-of-the-art small and big vessels for the Navy, the biggest beneficiary so far of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’s ongoing effort to modernize.
“We would be interested to work together, to provide larger assets for the Navy,” said Propmech director Glenn Tong during a recent virtual briefing with military reporters, wherein the firm also provided a forecast for this year for the maritime industry.
Promising demand forecast
THE Subic-based company, which builds ships both for commercial and military use, sees a rising demand for vessels and better opportunities for the maritime industry for this year, in contrast with last year, which, it said, was globally challenging.
“There is a rising demand for repairs and parts as companies resume operations,” Tong said. “There are also better opportunities in the public sector where sea operations are crucial as these require good vessels.”
Propmech, which has been in operation for more than 30 years, is a key player in the marine industry, and has been actively working with the three branches of the military by supplying them not only with new ships, but even parts and equipment and servicing their vessels.
The company has already delivered more than 1,000 vessels to other government agencies, including the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine National Police.
The ships were used as patrol, rescue, coastal security, aquatic resources management and transport of personnel.
MPAC in action
BUOYED by its performance and success in supplying the agile, modern and potent multipurpose attack craft (MPAC) to the Navy, Propmech expressed its interest in completing the requirement of the country’s sea force for 42 units of such small boats.
The Navy already has thus far acquired 12 units of MPACs from Propmech, and this included the Mark III version. Six of the 12 vessels have been armed with the Spike-ER missiles that were made and supplied by Israeli defense contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Ltd.
One of the MPACs, the Mark III model, figured late last year in the neutralization of seven members of the Abu Sayyaf Group, including the heir-apparent to the leadership of the Islamic State in the country, Mannul Sawadjaan.
The small boat—which has a speed of up to 45 knots—was used by elite Army Scout Rangers and Special Forces to trail the fast twin-engine Jungkong boat bearing the seven terrorists as it sliced the waters off Sulare Island in Sulu.
The soldiers engaged the terrorists in a firefight during the mid-sea chase before the Mark III rammed the boat and cut it into half.
That was the baptism of fire for one of the delivered boats, which has a ballistic armor and a night-time operation capability.
“The initial finding shows more or less 20 bullets that were received by the vessel,” said the Navy at that time, as it assessed the condition of the involved MPAC. No one among the personnel aboard the vessel was injured and no equipment was damaged.
The specs
PROPMECH delivered to the Navy in 2009 the first batch of the MPACs, which was 17 meters in length, 4.76 meters breadth and a draft of less than one meter, as the sea force scouted for a small attack craft that could fulfill a wide variety of missions.
The Navy wanted a small platform that could perform its requirement for reconnaissance and surveillance at low, medium and high speed in coastal waters; interception and interdiction; troop transport, insertion and extraction on beaches; amphibious beach landing; and search and rescue.
It also wanted an MPAC that could work as a high-speed attack craft and has “good sea-keeping” characteristics with “V-shaped” hard chine hull that can be used both on shallow waters and open seas, and has a ballistic protection, good maneuvering ability and could stop at two vessel lengths from full speed.
Before he retired and was succeeded by Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo as Navy chief, then Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad said that they wanted MPACs to be an integral part of the Navy capability upgrade program because of their features—well suited to the country’s topography as a “land of water.”
As such, he said they wanted to have a total of 42 MPACs, including the 12 that are already part of the Navy arsenal.
Missile capable
“BASED on our matrix, we should have 42 of this type of vessels. If these ships will operate simultaneously when we are under siege, I think this will do harm to any threat, whether internal or external,” Empedrad declared.
“This is a missile-capable platform…and its capability is good. It is fast and it can harm a target that has a better capability,” Empedrad stressed, adding it could also be used for the Navy’s “swarming” strategy because of its agility and capability.
Since the boat is also armed with a 50-caliber machine gun that is automated, it can hit a moving target at “high speed.”
Propmech is banking on its status as one of the only two locally based defense contractors, which gives it a leverage against other defense firms competing for the multibillion-peso modernization contracts of the military through projects and the delivery of assets and equipment.
The other company, Filipino-Australian shipbuilding firm Austal Philippines based in Balamban, Cebu, had clinched the contract to build six offshore patrol vessels for the Navy.
There had been calls from some sectors for the government to support and develop both locally based firms and indigenously built defense assets and equipment, since it will spur the economy, while developing the local defense industry and generating jobs for Filipinos.
More than 95 percent of the assets and equipment of the military are sourced abroad, or supplied by foreign firms.
Except for Propmech and Austal Philippines, all of the defense firms involved or participating in the modernization program of the military are based abroad, with only two or three people in the country as representatives. Some also took in Filipino firms as their representatives.
Outside the military industry, Tong said that they are bullish that this year, public and private companies and agencies will continue to give shipbuilders a priority as the need to transport goods, people and services by water remains.
“The past year tested the marine market, but working closely with our partners made us find effective and flexible solutions,” Tong said.
Image credits: Propmech