BRP Andrés Bonifacio (PS-17)

BRP Andrés Bonifacio (PS-17) is an offshore patrol vessel of the Philippine Navy and the third Gregorio del Pilar-class offshore patrol vessel in commission. 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.[4]

For other ships with the same name, see BRP Andrés Bonifacio.
For the Filipino revolutionary leader, see Andrés Bonifacio.
BRP Andrés Bonifacio during Exercise RIMPAC 2018 sea phase.
History
United States
Name: USCGC Boutwell
Builder: Avondale Shipyards
Launched: 17 June 1967
Commissioned: 1968
Decommissioned: 16 March 2016
Identification: WHEC-719
Fate: transferred to Philippine Navy.
 Philippines
Name: BRP Andrés Bonifacio
Namesake: Andrés Bonifacio (1863–1897), revolutionary and founder of the Katipunan movement
Acquired: 21 July 2016[1]
Commissioned: 21 July 2016[1]
Reclassified: February 2019
Identification:
Motto: Semper Paratus (Always Ready)
Status: In active service
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type: Gregorio del Pilar-class offshore patrol vessel
Displacement: 3,250 tons, probably less due to removal of several weapons & sensors system
Length: 378 ft (115 m)
Beam: 43 ft (13 m)
Draft: 8.75 ft (2.67 m)
Propulsion:
Speed: 29 knots (54 km/h)
Range: 14,000 nautical miles (25,900 km)
Endurance: 45 Days
Boats & landing
craft carried:		 2 × RHIB
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • Combat System:
    Hanwha Group Hanwha Systems Naval Shield Baseline 2 ICMS (Notice of Award)
  • Search radar:
    Saab AB AN/SPS-77 Sea Giraffe AMB 3D air/surface search radar (Awaiting Installation)
  • Navigation radar:
    Furuno FAR3220BB 25KW X-band navigational radar

    Furuno FAR3220BB 200W S-band solid state navigation/surface search radar
  • Fire control radar:
    Sperry Mk. 92 Mod. 1 Fire Control System[2]
  • Electro-Optical Tracking System:
    FLIR Systems SEAFLIR 230 electro-optical/infra-red (EO/IR) system (Awaiting Installation)
  • Sonar:
    Wartsila ELAC Hunter hull mounted sonar (Notice of Award)
Electronic warfare
& decoys:		 2 × Mk. 36 SRBOC Chaff and Decoy Launching System
Armament:
Aircraft carried: 1 × AgustaWestland AW109E Power naval helicopter
Aviation facilities: retractable hangar and flight deck

She was originally designated as "FF-17" and, in 2019, PN redesignated her to PS-17, downgrading the status of the class from frigate to patrol ship.[5]

Design

The ship was designed with a high level of habitability and provides fairly comfortable accommodations, including air conditioning.[6]

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[7][7] 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[7] 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.[7] 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.[8] 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,[9] and the FLIR Systems SeaFLIR 230 Electro-Optical/Infra-Red Camera.[10]

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).[10]

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

History

From 1967–2016 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.[4][11]

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.[12][1] She arrived in Manila on December 9, 2016[13] after port visit in Guam on December 5, 2016.[14]

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.[15]

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.[16] The ship also had a port call at the Lumut Naval Base in Perak, Malaysia and conducted joint exercises with the Royal Malaysian Navy,[17] before docking at Port Klang, Selangor, Malaysia for a goodwill visit from March 30 to April 3, 2017.[18]

BRP Andrés Bonifacio (PS-17) arrives in Hawaii for RIMPAC 2018.
Stern view of BRP Andrés Bonifacio during TDT Operation in the RIMPAC 2018.

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. 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.[19] 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.[20]

BRP Andres Bonifacio in VBSS operations during Balikatan 2019

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

See also

References
  1. Adel, Rosette (2016-11-01). "Philippine Navy's Third Frigate Set to Sail Home". Philstar.com / The Philippine Star. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  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. "US Ship to be Turned Over to PH Navy | Inquirer Global Nation". Globalnation.inquirer.net. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
  5. "Del Pilar-class frigates redesignated as patrol ships". Philippine News Agency. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  6. "History of USCGC Hamilton (WHEC-715)". USCGC Hamilton (WHEC-715) official web site. United States Coast Guard. 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  7. "WHEC 378' Hamilton class". GlobalSecurity.org. 2005-04-27. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  8. "WHEC 378' Hamilton class". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  9. "U.S. Green Lights FMS of AN/SPS-77 Sea Giraffe Radar for Philippines Navy Hamilton-class Cutters". Navy Recognition. 2016-12-14. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  10. Montero, Max (2018-05-23). "MaxDefense Philippines 23 May 2018". MaxDefense Philippines. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  11. Jordan, Bryant (10 October 2015). "After Decades of Service, USCGC Boutwell Makes Final Fleet Week Cruise". Military.com. San Francisco: Military Advantage. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  12. "Formal Turn-over of US Ship to Ph Navy". Subic Bay News. July 27, 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  13. "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.
  14. "BRP Andres Bonifacio Docks at Guam on Bonifacio Day" (Press release). Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs. December 5, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  15. "Taiwan and Philippine Navies have unexpected encounter at Sea"
  16. "Philippine Navy Participates in LIMA 2017" (Press release). The Manila Bulletin. 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  17. "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.
  18. "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.
  19. "PHL Navy Contingent Sails to Hawaii for World’s Largest Maritime Exercise"
  20. "PH Ships in RIMPAC Opened for Public Tour"

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