The Philippines' Most Advanced Warship Goes to Pearl Harbor
The BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151), the Philippines' second guided-missile frigate, has arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam in Hawaii on June 25, ahead of this year's Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise slated for June 29 to August 4.
"While entering Pearl Harbor, the Naval Task Group 80.5 contingent and ship's crew manned the rail and rendered a salute to USS Missouri and USS Arizona in honor of World War II fallen heroes," Philippine Navy spokesperson Commander Benjo Negranza said in a statement Monday.
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26 Countries Participating in RIMPAC 2022
RIMPAC is considered the world's largest naval exercise, is held every two years. It aims to enhance interoperability of the navies of America’s allies. There are 26 countries participating in the exercises. These include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, Peru, the Philippines, the U.S., and the U.K. More than 25,000 personnel will be involved in the exercises.
The BRP Antonio Luna is the Most Advanced Warship the Philippines Has Ever Sent to RIMPAC
It is the third time the Philippines has participated in the RIMPAC since its first participation in 2018, when it sent the 55-year-old warship, the BRP Andres Bonifacio for the exercises. It also sent the relatively new BRP Davao del Sur, a support vessel and landing dock.
The P8-billion missile-guided destroyer BRP Antionio Luna is the most advanced warship the Philippines has ever deployed to any naval exerise with other countries. It is the sister ship of the BRP Jose Rizal, flagship of the Philippine Navy. They were built by South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries or HHI.
The BRP Antonio Luna is a variant of South Korea's Incheon-class frigates. A frigate is a type of warship built for speed and maneuverability, typically taking multiple roles at sea. The BRP Antonio Luna and BRP Jose Rizal are types of guided-missile frigates that can be used to patrol and deter incursions in the West Philippine Sea.
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Weapons on the BRP Antonio Luna
Like many modern warships, the BRP Antonio Luna is equipped with electronic warfare and decoy systems. This means it could jam the radars of nearby warplanes as a defense measure to avoid getting targetted. It is also equipped with decoy launchers that can intercept enemy missiles or rockets in case they are attacked.
On the offensive side, the warship is equipped with a 76-mm super rapid gun, a 30-mm gun, a close-in weapon system for detecting and destroying incoming missiles, four c-star anti-ship missiles on twin canisters, two torpedo launcher systems, and two Mistral homing rocket launchers4/edit
