Colombia allocates US$435 million for the construction of the first PES frigate

The Colombian Navy (ARC) has assigned US$435 million to Cotecmar for the construction of the first frigate of the PES (Strategic Surface Platform) program, a project for which the Colombian public shipyard signed an agreement with the Dutch firm Damen.

According to the schedule, the cutting of the first sheet of the future ship is scheduled for July 2023 and the keel laying within three years, in December 2025. The Navy expects to complete the construction of the five frigates in the program in December 2032.

The protocol acts of signing and signing these documents took place in the city of Bogotá, with the presence of the chief of staff of the Military Forces, the president of Cotecmar, the commander of the Navy and other members of the leadership of this force.

FIVE UNITS

With this program, Colombia seeks to modernize its surface fleet, currently made up of four FS1500 and two missile corvettes donated by South Korea, in order to have strategic autonomy and credible and sustainable deterrent capabilities for the defense of its maritime spaces.

The multi-mission ships resulting from this project, based on the Damen Sigma 10514 model, will operate on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the country, to constitute an effective Oceanic Defensive Force (ODF) based on the Strategic Plan of the Defense and Security Sector (2018-2022) and the Strategic Military and Transformation Plan (PEMT) 2042.

In this sense, the new vessels would have an integrated mast, with a 76/62-millimeter main artillery piece, with anti-ship systems (SSM-700K HAE SUNG-I), medium-range air defense systems, from vertical launchers (VLS of between 12 to 16 cells) and short-range (CIWS), as well as anti-submarine warfare systems (AWS) -hull and variable depth sonars-, with a very low radar, infrared, acoustic and magnetic signature, with ART/UAV systems, flexibilities for its configuration, a reduced crew, with ranges between 4,000 and 7,000 nautical miles, with autonomy of approximately 30 days and speeds between 27 and 30 knots, provided by a hybrid propulsion system of two engines.

With information from Infodefensa