#ffg06

Just some of the latest Pictures of the BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-06), the Lead Ship of the new Malvar class Guided Missile Frigates. It is the newest, most advanced and most capable Ship of the Philippine Navy (PN) as of now.

It is the first Ship of the PN to be equipped with Vertical Launch System (VLS) Cells for some of its Missiles, and first brand new Ship to be armed with a Gun-based Close In Weapons (CIWS) System.

The Ship has been commissioned into Service recently, but has already participated in a number of Naval Exercises. The Contract for the acquisition of the two Malvar-class Vessels was signed back in December of 2021 under the Administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

SOURCES:

Armed Forces of the Philippines Facebook Page Post, 06/05/25 – 1404H {Archived Link}

Just some nice Pictures and a Video of the BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-06) Guided Missile Corvette of the Philippine Navy (PN), the latest Missile-armed Vessel of the Service during the Arrival Ceremony given to it in Subic recently.

MY NOTES: Just some of the Things I noticed about the Ship from the Pictures and Video, aside from the installed Vertical Launch System (VLS) Cells: The Gokdeniz Close In Weapons System (CIWS) is a LOT bigger than I thought it would be, you can clearly see its Size from the Picture with the PN Personnel standing next to it.

It easily is around 3-4 meters tall, or 9-12 feet for you who are used to the United States (US) Standard of Measurement. I didn’t expect it to be that big, I thought it would be a bit smaller based on what I thought were the Full Scale Mock Ups (FSMU) that I saw at the Asian Defense and Security (ADAS) Events.

Also noticeable is that Screen Mesh over the opening for the Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIB), and the Cover over the Torpedo Launchers that can be lowered or raised as needed. Both of these help enhance the Stealth Characteristics of the Ship.

Among other Things, the Malvar-class Corvettes will be the first Vessels of the PN that are armed with VLS and Gun-based CIWS. The Contract for these Vessels was signed in December of 2021 under the Administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

SOURCES:

Department of National Defense – Philippines Facebook Page Post, 04/08/25 – 1354H {Archived Link}

And the newest Missile Ship of the Philippine Navy (PN), the BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-06) Guided Missile Corvette has reactivated its Automatic Identification System (AIS) as it passes Taiwan and is now at the Luzon Strait!!!

Welcome home, BRP Malvar!!! Great to see finally home at last!!! On a Side Note, the Contract for the BRP Malvar and its Sister Ship was signed in December of 2021 under the Administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Here again is the BRP Malvar’s Page on the MarineTraffic Website: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:9459225/

Great News, as expected the BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-06) Guided Missile Corvette of the Philippine Navy left Port earlier today to begin its Journey to the Philippines. However, it has restricted access to its Automatic Identification System (AIS) and its last Position was recorded several hours ago off the Coast of South Korea (SK).

Going by past experiences with other Ships from SK and Indonesia that were delivered over the last Decade, the BRP Malvar will likely only allow public access to its AIS Position when it is near the Philippines' Territorial Waters in the next several Days.

The BRP Malvar is scheduled to arrive in Subic next Monday on April 7, 2025, although it will likely won't dock into Port until a Day or so later due to some standard Regulations, possibly related to Quarantining if I remember it correctly.

So Bon Voyage, BRP Malvar, and the Filipino People are eager to see you soon here in the Philippines. As a Side Note, the Contract for this Vessel was signed in December of 2021 under the Administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Here again is the BRP Malvar’s Page on the MarineTraffic Website: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:9459225/mmsi:457900820/imo:0/vessel:MIGUEL_MALVAR

The BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-06) Guided Missile Corvette of the Philippine Navy (PN) by the Way is now on the “MarineTraffic” Website. There are several “Miguel Malvar” Ships listed there, but this one seems to be it as it is at the Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) Shipyard in South Korea (SK), and its Destination of “Subic” on April 7, 2025 matches the Information provided by the Main Stream Media (MSM) on the arrival of the Ship in the Philippines.

It is listed on the Websites as registered under the Flag of Mongolia, but it may just be some lame attempt at “Psychological Operations” to confuse People. Interesting that its forecasted Route won’t bring it to the “Taiwan Strait”, or that Body of Water between Taiwan and China, but will instead sail East of Taiwan or thru the Philippine Sea.

Now the United States (US) and their Filipino Doggies will use this opportunity again to DEMONIZE China and shout, “Military Secrecy” because they want to keep portraying China always as the “Devil Incarnate”. All I can say is that these Information is available in the Internet openly and everyone can verify them if they want to.

As for China, no, I don’t think they will do anything to this Ship at all, for one, although I am proud of this Ship, it barely matches up to their latest Frigates and Destroyers. Remember that China is a World Superpower with only the US as their Rival, and they have over a hundred and fifty Surface Combatants, they will hardly care of a single Ship like this.

As I previously reported quoting News Sources, the Ship is scheduled to start its Journey to the Philippines on Monday, March 31, 2025.

Here is the BRP Malvar’s Page on the MarineTraffic Website: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:9459225/mmsi:457900820/imo:0/vessel:MIGUEL_MALVAR

The BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-06) Guided Missile Corvette of the Philippine Navy (PN) recently posted on its Facebook Page that it is, “… Sailing home soon …” It is scheduled to start its Journey from South Korea (SK) to the Philippines at the end of this Month of March of 2025.

Among others, it will hold the distinction of the very first Vessel of the PN that will be equipped with a Vertical Launch System (VLS), and from the Picture it looks like it is going to have 16 Cells. I thought before it was only going to have 12 based on a previous Picture of it, but now it is confirmed to have 16.

It will also be the first Vessel of the PN armed with a Gun-based Close In Weapons System (CIWS) which will be the Gokdeniz. The Contract for the BRP Malvar and its Sister Ship was signed back in December of 2021 under the Administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Some Updates on the Malvar-class Corvettes from the Chief of the Philippine Navy (PN), Vice Admiral Jose Ezepeleta recently, and these are:

The BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-06) will arrive early of next Month of April, 2025.

A Send Off Ceremony for the BRP Malvar and the Launching of the BRP Diego Silang (FFG-07) will made on the same Day sometime at the End of this Month of March, 2025.

MY NOTES: It seems there is a Delay in the Delivery of the BRP Malvar, it was scheduled to be delivered this Month. But then again, as you can see from the Picture Updates on this Album, it has been changed a couple ot times in the Past.

The initial Schedule was the second Part of this Year of 2025, then moved up to March 2025, and now moved down again to April. The Contract for these two Vessels were signed in December of 2021 under the Administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Strangely I don’t remember being announced back then, it was only when the BRP Malvar was launched when they announced the Date of the Contract Signing. It seems some People were able to convince Digong to keep Things quiet back then.

Up to now the PN still has not officially announced the reclassification of these “Corvettes” into Frigates or something else, despite the Fact that its Classification Initials is now “FFG” instead of “PS”. I don’t know when they’ll do it, maybe during the Send Off.

The Jose Rizal class Frigates is using the Classification Initial of “FF”, so I wonder what “FFG” will mean officially? Hopefully not “Frigate, Guided Missile” like they do with the United States Navy (USN), because then we’d be following the USN again.

Here is the Link to the “Inquirer Plus” Website: https://plus.inquirer.net/news/navy-to-take-delivery-in-april-of-first-of-2-south-korean-made-corvettes/