Lets clear up a little about ONE MORE TERM playing the braggart again. this time, boasting of some supposedly Philippine made naval vessels. Now, while the last ships may have been laid down in Cavite, their source was of German origin. Lets read on, shall we? - - - - - The PG Kagitingan class was designed and built in Germany on contract to the Philippine Navy in the 1970s with the intention of eventual production in the Philippines. The first vessel, produced by W. Muller shipbuilders in Hamelan, Germany was commissioned as the BRP Kagitingan (PG-101) in September 1979. The vessels had a displacement of 132 tons and a top speed of 16 knots. The main armament was a single powered Emerlec EX 34 Mod 0 turret with 2 30mm cannons mounted forward of the main superstructure. The weapon system linked to an Elsag NA10 Mod 0 fire control system and Orion 10X fire control radar. 4 .50 caliber and 2 7.62mm machine guns complimented this system. Philippine sailors were sent to Europe to familiarize themselves with this new system, unlike the existing manually operated turrets with manual fire control systems. A fourth hull, BRP Bagong Silang (PG-104) was launched at Cavite, and was planned to be commissioned in 1983, but its fate is uncertain. The other 2 planned ships in the class were canceled. In 1984 the first ship of the PG Emilio Aguinaldo class was laid down, featuring a superstructure almost identical to that of the Kagitingan class. In the end 2 ships of that class were built, suggesting the possibility that the superstructures had been reused from the planned BRP Bagong Silang or the other 2 planned ships in the class. The Philippine Navy reportedly had problems keeping sailors training in their fire control and radar systems, which were themselves hard to maintain. Thus, the return to a manually operated firing control system. - - - - - The saddest part is towards the end, where the navy had to resort to going back to the old-school way, simply because the sailors and/or their officers were too damn lazy to keep themselves trained and up to date on technology. I guess that better explains the Polish helicopters?
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 07:18:27 +0000