Hanwha Systems will supply additional combat management systems (CMS), the "brain of warships," to the Philippine Navy. This is Hanwha Systems' fifth order for Philippine warship combat systems.
Hanwha Systems said on Dec. 31 it signed a contract to supply CMS and a tactical data link (TDL) worth about 40 billion won for two next-generation 3,200-ton-class frigates of the Philippine Navy.
A shipborne CMS detects and analyzes various threats in real time using various sensors mounted on the warship and issues commands to a range of weapons systems, including naval guns and missiles, to carry out optimal combat missions. The TDL supplied together is a communications system that allows naval forces to share tactical information in real time to improve combat efficiency.
Hanwha Systems began in 2017 with two 2,600-ton-class frigates and went on in 2019 to win a performance upgrade project for three 3,000-ton-class Philippine frigates in succession. Counting the latest order, after two 3,100-ton-class patrol vessels in 2022 and six 2,400-ton-class offshore patrol vessels in 2023, this is the fifth export. As a result, a total of 15 Philippine Navy warships will be equipped with Korean-made CMS.
The CMS and TDL to be supplied this time will be provided to suit the Philippines' complex operational environment and unique maritime security situation, composed of more than 7,600 islands.
Since 2000, Hanwha Systems has developed CMS with its own technology and succeeded in localization, and supplies it to nearly all surface and subsurface warships used by the Republic of Korea Navy, including destroyers, frigates, high-speed boats and submarines. A Hanwha Systems official said, "We plan to continue strengthening the competitiveness of Korean warship CMS and expand export markets to the Middle East, Southeast Asia, the United States and South America."