US Navy will get two more patrol boats

The US Navy will give the Philippine Navy two Cyclone-class patrol ships that have just been taken out of service. These ships should arrive in the Philippines in the next few months and help the country patrol its coastal waters better.

US Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement that the USS Monsoon (PC 4) and USS Chinook (PC 9) were given to the Philippine Navy by the US 5th Fleet at a retirement ceremony for the two ships on Tuesday at the Naval Support Activity in Manama, Bahrain.

Monsoon and Chinook are the last two ships in a group of 10 that were based in Bahrain and sent to the Persian Gulf. These ships were made for shallow-water operations. Five of the decommissioned Cyclone-class ships were given to the Royal Bahrain Naval Force last year, and three were recently given to the Egyptian Navy.

"I'm also proud that we're giving great ships to our partners in the Philippines," said Capt. Anthony Webber, who is in charge of Task Force 55 and oversees operations for the surface forces of the US 5th Fleet.

Both ships are likely to join the Navy's Littoral Combat Force, which already has one Cyclone-class ship, the BRP General Mariano Alvarez, which was put into service in 2004 as the former USS Cyclone.

The ships are expected to arrive in Manila in May, according to a senior Navy official who spoke to the Inquirer. After that, they will be worked on for 60 days "to incorporate all the desired capabilities and peculiarities of the Philippine Navy into the platform" before they are sent out.

The 179-foot patrol boats can be armed with machine guns, grenade launchers, and missiles. They can travel up to 3,704 kilometres at their fastest speed of 35 knots (2,000 nautical miles).