Technical Details
The ships under this class are characterized by a low freeboard, an Oto-Melara 76 mm gun turret located forward, large funnel amidships and a crane and rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) aft.
The Oto Melara 76 mm Compact DP, the ships' primary weapon, has a range of up to 10 nautical miles (20 km) and can be used against ships, aircraft or off and on-shore ground targets. It is remotely controlled from within the Combat Information Center by the gunnery officer and has no crew within the gun itself. The gun can fire 80 rounds in 60 seconds without reloading its magazine. The ship has load capacity for up to 450 rounds.
Its secondary weapon located at the stern, a MSI Defense System Seahawk mount for a M242 Bushmaster 25 mm cannon, is integrated with the 76 mm primary weapon via an Ultra Electronics Command and Control System and a Radamec 1500 Series Electro-Optical Tracking/Fire Control System. This new system was installed as part of Phase 1 of the Philippine Navy JCPV upgrade program. The Radamec 1500 Series 2500 replaced the older GSA7 Sea Archer Mk 1 electro-optical director with a GEC V3800 thermal imager added in 1987.
In addition to the abovementioned guns, these ships also carry two .50 caliber heavy machine guns at the bridgewings, and two Mk.16 cannons at Mk.68 mounts at the midships.
The ships are powered by two APE-Crossley SEMT-Pielstick diesels (14,188 bhp combined) driving two three-bladed propellers. It has a drop down loiter engine with a shrouded prop of 181 bhp (135 kW) used to keep station and save fuel. The main engines can propel the 664 ton (712 tons full load) ship at over 28 knots (52 km/h), with a sustained speed of 25 knots (46 km/h). Its range is 2,500 nautical miles (4,630 km) at 17 knots (31 km/h).
These corvettes were specifically designed for Asian service, having air-conditioned crew spaces and have been designed to stay at sea during typhoons and other strong weather anomalies common to Asian seas. The ships were modified soon after entering Royal Navy service with deeper bilge keels to alleviate a propensity to roll during moderate and heavy seas.
The ship also carries two Avon Searaider 5.4 m, 30 kt, 10-man RHIB.
Read more about this topic: BRP Artemio Ricarte (PS-37)
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