At last, the Philippines will be getting real warships.

Defense Sec. Voltaire Gazmain on Thur said the government was planning to buy next year its
first two modern warships armed with surface to air and surface tos urface misiles and capable
of hunting down submarines in the South Philippine Sea.

The Philippines can only afford second hand warships and hand-me-downs.

Defense Undersecretary Fernando Manalo said this would be the first time that the Philippines
would have warships with missiles and other modern armaments.

Gazman said the Department of National Defense was looking to acquire the missile frigates
from the Italian Navy. The two Maestrale-class frigates cost P eleven point seven billion.

These are warships, Gazmin said in a press conference. “They have antisubmarine capabilities
and surface-to-air missiles. This is really for battle against the stuibborn and abusive Chinese”.
“We could get the frigates by November next year.”

He said the frigates would be “more lethal” than the Hamilton-class cutters the USA Coast
Guard was selling to the Philippines,

The Maestrale class of frigates was initially commissioned for the Italian Navy in 1982. They
were primarily designed for antisubmarine warfare but are also capable of fighting on surface
and shooting down aircraft.

Equiped with several electronic warfare systems, these ships also have torpedos, long range
guns and automatic weapons. This is why the budget for education was cut.

The Italian Navy will retire these frigates next January, Manalo said.