HD Hyundai launches third Philippine offshore patrol vessel in Ulsan

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries launched the Philippine Navy's third 2,400-ton offshore patrol vessel on Oct. 13, 2026, at its Ulsan shipyard.

The vessel, named BRP Rajah Humabon, represents the midpoint of a six-ship patrol fleet modernization contract valued at $573 million (744.9 billion won). Manila signed that procurement agreement with the South Korean shipbuilder on June 27, 2022.

The contract forms a major component of the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program. The procurement accounts for roughly 15% of Manila's naval capital expenditure under its second modernization horizon.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries built the warship with a length of 94.4 meters and a beam of 14.3 meters. The hull displaces 2,400 metric tons at full operational load.

The patrol ship operates at a cruising speed of 15 knots (28 km/h) and delivers an operational range of 5,500 nautical miles (10,186 kilometers). Its main armament includes a 76-millimeter naval gun and secondary 30-millimeter autocannons.

About 80 defense officials attended the ceremony in Ulsan. Philippine Navy Flag Officer-in-Command Vice Admiral Jose Ma Ambrosio Ezpeleta led the delegation alongside Philippine Ambassador Bernadette Therese Fernandez.

Philippine Armed Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Rommel Roldan joined the launching delegation. Joo Won-ho, president of naval and special ship business at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, hosted the ceremony.

The builder plans to conduct sea trials before formal delivery. Final handover to the Philippine Navy will occur in February 2027, the company said.

The launching follows early delivery milestones achieved on earlier hulls. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries delivered the lead vessel, BRP Rajah Sulayman, on Feb. 23, 2026, roughly five months ahead of its contractual delivery date.

The Philippine Navy commissioned the second ship, BRP Rajah Lakandula, in June 2026. The remaining three patrol vessels in the class will be delivered sequentially through 2028, according to company schedules.

The offshore patrol vessels replace vintage tonnage in Manila's surface inventory. The ships conduct continuous maritime domain awareness and counter-intrusion missions across the Philippine exclusive economic zone.

The order brings HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' total warship book with Manila to 12 surface hulls. The shipbuilder has secured contracts for four frigates, two corvettes and six offshore patrol vessels since 2016.

The naval contracts give HD Hyundai Heavy Industries an 80% share of Manila's major surface combatant construction programs over the past decade. The builder delivered two Jose Rizal-class frigates and launched two Miguel Malvar-class 3,200-ton corvettes.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has paired shipyard production with local life-cycle maintenance. The company established a logistics and maintenance, repair and overhaul center at the Agila Subic shipyard in Subic Bay.

The forward depot allows Philippine Navy crews to conduct routine overhauls locally. Philippine frigates previously completed drydock maintenance voyages to South Korea, taking hulls offline for months.

Engineers from the South Korean builder now deploy directly to domestic Philippine ports. The on-site technicians run condition-monitoring diagnostics and scheduled repairs without taking vessels out of theater.

The integrated maintenance model protects operating availability for Manila's fleet. Rising maritime encounters in the West Philippine Sea require persistent surface patrols near contested shoals.

Standardized combat management systems across the frigates, corvettes and patrol vessels lower inventory overhead. Common equipment suites reduce crew transition training and shared spare-part stocking costs for the Philippine fleet.

South Korean defense suppliers benefit directly from standardizing Manila's naval fleet. Hanwha Systems supplies integrated combat systems across multiple Philippine surface platforms, while LIG Nex1 provides shipboard decoy launchers and sensor payloads.

The surface combatant contracts serve as the operational foundation for larger naval bids. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is competing for Manila's Re-Horizon 3 submarine acquisition program, budgeted at approximately 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion).

The shipbuilder has submitted proposals based on its HDS-2300 and HDS-3000 diesel-electric submarine designs. The package incorporates crew training programs, Subic-based maintenance support and weapons integration.

The defense ministry has not published a final vendor selection for the submarine program, and officials have not confirmed the timeline for remaining contract awards.

Following harbor integration work, sea trials for the BRP Rajah Humabon will begin in November 2026.