The Philippine Navy's new 124-meter Landing Platform Dock is a class of two ships being constructed by PT PAL Indonesia for the navy's Landing Dock Acquisition Project. The class is an improvement on the previously commissioned Tarlac-class which was also constructed by PT PAL. The ships are being acquired as part of Horizon 2 of the Revised AFP Modernization Program, which was set to cover the period of 2018 to 2022.[1]
The ship class has yet to be named. The steel cutting ceremony of the first ship was conducted on 10 August 2023.[2]
The Philippine Navy included plans to procure 2 new landing platform docks as part of its Horizon 2 modernization phase, with the proposal with a budget of PHP5.56 billion among those approved in-principle by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in June 2018.[1] [3] This would allow the Philippine Navy to increase its sealift and amphibious assault capabilities to reach its planned overall capability.
The Philippines' Department of National Defense (DND) signed a contract with Indonesian shipbuilder PT PAL Indonesia on 24 June 2022,[4] with the shipbuilder delivering a variant of their improved 123-meter Strategic Sealift Vessel / Tarlac-class design.[1] [5]
According to the technical specifications released as part of the project's tender documents, the ship will have improvements over the current Tarlac-class landing platform docks, despite both classes originating from a similar base design.[6] The improvements were formulated based on the Philippine Navy's experience in operating the Tarlac-class, and knowing its strengths and shortcomings.
The Philippine Navy released information to tenderers that the ships are to be built with allowance for a 76sp=usNaNsp=us Oto Melara 76mm Super Rapid main gun, two 30mm Aselsan SMASH secondary guns, either the Rheinmetall Oerlikon Millennium Gun or the Aselsan GOKDENIZ gun-based close-in weapon systems, and 8 manually-operated 12.7mm heavy machine guns.[1]
PT PAL confirmed in released proposals that their submitted landing docks design allows for a 76sp=usNaNsp=us (3 in) main gun on the foredeck, two stern-facing secondary guns will also be fitted, one each on the port and starboard sides.[1] The weapons systems are supposed to be installed separately by the Philippine Navy after delivery.
Originally, the ships were designed to accommodate two medium-sized (10-ton) helicopters on the flight deck, and one similar-sized helicopter on the hangar, with the specifications emphasizing the US-made Sikorsky Black Hawk and Italian-made AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter as basis. But changes in the Philippine Navy's requirement later on changed the design to have a hangar for one medium (10-ton) helicopter and a flight deck for two medium (10-ton) helicopters.
On 20 July 2024, defense contractor EID, a subsidiary of Cohort plc, announced that it secured a contract with PT PAL to supply its Integrated Communications Control System (ICCS) for integration into the landing platform docks under construction for the Philippine Navy.[7] [8]
The first landing platform dock has officially started its construction on 10 August 2023 where a first steel cutting ceremony was held in PT PAL's facility in Surabaya, Indonesia[2] while the second landing platform dock has officially started its construction on 22 January 2024.[9] It is expected that the ship would be completed by 2024, and delivered to the Philippine Navy by 2025.
| Ship name | Hull number | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Service | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TBC | TBC | 22 January 2024[10] [11] | Sealift Amphibious Force | Under construction | ||
| TBC | TBC | 29 May 2024 [12] | Sealift Amphibious Force | Under construction | ||