SOUTH Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) is seeking to secure additional warship orders from the Philippines in the fourth quarter of 2026, with a potential deal involving follow-on frigates for the Philippine Navy.
In a statement, HHI said it sees opportunities to win new warship projects in the Philippines before the end of the year as it seeks to expand its business of building such vessels.
“There are opportunities to win orders for warship projects in the Philippines in the fourth quarter,” the company said.
The Philippine opportunity is expected to involve a follow-on acquisition of the Miguel Malvar-class guided missile frigates, which were designed and built by HHI for the Philippine Navy.
HHI has already secured the contract to build two Miguel Malvar-class frigates. The ships are being delivered to the Philippine Navy under the Armed Forces of the Philippines' modernization program.
A follow-on order, if approved and formally contracted, would expand the Navy's fleet of modern surface combatants as the Philippines continues to strengthen its maritime defense and territorial security capabilities.
The additional frigates, however, remain subject to the government's acquisition process and have not yet been formally contracted.
HHI's statement comes as the Philippine Navy continues to build up its fleet of major surface combatants, which seeks to improve the country's capabilities for territorial defense, maritime security, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
The South Korean shipbuilder has been a major supplier to the Philippine Navy. Aside from the two Miguel Malvar-class frigates, it has constructed the two Jose Rizal-class frigates, which are the Navy's first modern guided missile frigates.
The Miguel Malvar-class ships are based on HHI's HDF-3200 platform and are intended to provide enhanced combat and weapons capabilities compared to the Jose Rizal-class.
A projected fleet composition depicts a Philippine Navy force that could include four Miguel Malvar-class frigates and two Jose Rizal-class frigates, along with four Rajah Sulayman-class corvettes, three Del Pilar-class offshore patrol vessels, one Conrado Yap-class corvette and three Jacinto-class patrol vessels.
The projected composition also includes four Tarlac-class landing dock ships, two Bacolod City-class logistics support vessels, five Ivatan-class landing craft heavy vessels, nine Acero-class fast attack interdiction craft, three Cyclone-class patrol ships and several Multi-Purpose Attack Craft.
The fleet illustration, however, is not an official Philippine Navy fleet plan, and the additional Miguel Malvar-class frigates remain uncontracted.
For the Philippine Navy, a follow-on acquisition of the same frigate design could provide continuity in shipbuilding, training, maintenance and logistics while adding more modern surface combatants to the fleet.
HHI also cited the strength of its defense-related order pipeline, particularly in sectors outside commercial shipping.
“Among major domestic shipbuilders, it has the most abundant order momentum in sectors other than merchant vessels,” the company said.
