The Bangladesh Navy has already acquired four C13B (Shadhinata class) guided missile corvettes from China. At $100 million the surface warfare geared corvettes are affordable solutions however given the proliferation of stealthy submarines in the region it is time the Bangladesh Navy look in to a more capable platform.
At an estimated unit cost of less than $170 million the “Jose Rizal-class frigate” built by the Hyundai Heavy Industries for the Philippine Navy is a worthy light frigate or guided missile corvette solution for the Bangladesh Navy as well.
The 2,600 tonnes displacement with length of 107.5 and a beam of 13.8 m is a useful coastal defence platform packing a well-balanced package of anti-air, anti-surface and anti-submarine armaments and advanced sensors from the likes of Hanwha, Harris, Safran, Selex, Kelvin Hughes, Hensoldt and Terma.
The Jose Rizal frigates are propelled by four MTU STX 650KW diesel engines in CODAD configuration reaching a maximum speed of 25 knots and a cruising speed of 15 knots. The warships have maximum range of 4,500 nautical miles.
Carried on board are two rigid-hulled inflatable boats and a Leonardo AW-159 Wildcat multi-purpose helicopter in the flight deck and enclosed aviation hanger.
The sensors package consists of a Hanwha Group Hanwha Systems Naval Shield Baseline 2 ICMS. The primary search radar Hensoldt TRS-3D Baseline D multi-mode phased array C-band radar. There are also Kelvin Hughes SharpEye I, E/F band radars navigation radar, Selex ES NA-25X fire control radar, Safran PASEO NS electro-optical tracking system, Hanwha Group Hanwha Systems Link P (Link K Derivative) tactical data link, Air warfare Data Link 16, Maritime Data Link 22, Harris Corporation Model 997 medium frequency active/passive ASW hull mounted sonar and Thales CAPTAS-2 Towed Array Sonar. Armaments include an Oto Melara 76 mm super rapid gun, an ASELSAN SMASH 30mm secondary gun, four S&T Motiv 12.7mm K6 heavy machine guns, one Close-in weapon system (FFBNW), two twin MBDA Simbad RC with Mistral missiles, single 8-cell Vertical Launching System (FFBNW), two 2 x twin LIGNex1 SSM-700K C-Star anti-ship missile and two SEA triple trainable torpedo launchers.
The Bangladesh Navy owned shipyards such as Khulna Shipyard and Chittagong Dry Dock Ltd can embark on the project with Hyundai Heavy Industries.
