As commendable as it is in buying new assets that are now forming a significant portion of the naval service branch's Offshore Combat Force, another class of ships from another country next door is likely getting on its way to the fleet, as part of the agreement between the two governments.
FROM THE NEWS REPORTS
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| JS Sendai (DE-232) forms part of the six (6) Abukuma-class destroyer escorts of the JMSDF. Image Source. |
Before this news broke out, the attention of the Filipino defense community gets fixated into other developments relating to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, specifically with the commissioning of the BRP Miguel Malvar (FFG-06) into the fleet as a full-fledged guided missile frigate during the Philippine Navy anniversary that took place on May 20, 2025. As the celebratory event comes with the addition of the ship, along with two (2) Acero-class vessels, a more exciting event will come in the months to come.
Several months later, on July 6, 2025, Japanese news outlet Yomiuri revealed the first details of what will be a game-changing moment for the capabilities of the Philippine Navy.
This refers to the revelation that both the Philippine and Japanese governments have reached a finalization in their agreement to the exportation of what will probably be all the six (6) Abukuma-class destroyer escorts currently in service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force at the time this article publishes.
In the said news report from this Japanese news outlet, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force or JMSDF poses to decommission all of its six (6) Abukuma-class destroyer escorts, and is likely to get replaced by the newer Mogami-class frigates that Japan ordered on its local shipbuilding entities like the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. In the agreement, the export aims to improve interoperability between the Philippines and Japan relating to maritime security matters.
This will count as the recent defense transfer made by Japan to the Philippines to-date, with the other being the transfer of TC-90 trainer aircraft to the Philippine Navy in 2017, and Japan’s first successful defense sale to the Philippines through its export of J/FPS-3ME and J/TPS-P14ME surveillance radars that now operates to ensure security of the Philippine Air Defense Identification Zone or PADIZ. The transfer of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts to the Philippine Navy will probably be the largest one to-date.
As the Abukuma class likely getting transferred to the Philippine Navy counting as the largest boost both to its firepower and numerical capabilities once succeeded, the following details discussed under this topic will primarily delve to its production and service history, along with the usual information relating to its specifications with its subcomponents within the JMSDF service, and the likely upgrades that the ships receive upon entry to the Philippine fleet composition from 2027 onwards.
THE HISTORY
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| The Abukuma-class destroyer escorts came as a replacement for the older Yubari-class destroyer escort. Image from Wikimedia Commons. |
As the Philippine Navy sets into finalizing the agreement that will transfer all six (6) Abukuma-class destroyer escorts from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force or JMSDF, let us trace back its history, from when the vessels have designed down to its shipbuilding and eventually its service within the JMSDF. At a glance, the vessels came with anti-submarine warfare in their design, and the capabilities they will have will help the Philippine Navy’s own mandate.
From the beginning, the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts came as part of the JMSDF’s evolution of improving its fleet with capable vessels that came according to its specifications and requirements of that time.
The vessels, introduced in the late 1980s to early 1990s, came as an improvement over the fleet’s other destroyer escort class, which is the Yubari-class destroyer escort. The 1980s-era Yubari-class design does not satisfy the JMSDF, giving birth to the new Abukuma-class destroyer escort development.
The lead ship, the JS Abukuma (DE-229), had launched in 1988 as part of Japan’s efforts to improve its destroyer escort fleet that covers the shortcomings of the earlier Yubari-class destroyer escort, especially with its small hull size.
This then moved on for another year until the work on the JS Abukuma (DE-229) completed in 1989 and subsequently introduced to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s fleet. The sixth and final ship, JS Tone (DE-234), completed in 1993.
The construction of all Abukuma-class destroyer escorts comes with a delegation of shipbuilding assignments across key Japanese shipbuilders in the country. Two (2) of all six (6) Abukuma-class destroyer escorts have the hulls produced in either of the three (3) Japanese shipbuilding entities, namely the Mitsui shipyard in Tamano, Japan, the Maizuru (Hitachi) shipyard in Maizuru, Japan, and the Sumitomo shipyard in Uraga, Japan. This gives all entities the experience in the design’s shipbuilding process.
With the completion of all six (6) Abukuma-class destroyer escorts, each of the vessels served a significant role crucial in securing and monitoring the Japanese territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone waters, an activity that still does until today, and definitely until the first of the said destroyer escorts will get decommissioned from active duty within the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force from 2027. The ships will then get replaced by the newer Mogami-class guided missile frigates (FFM).
This means that by 2027, the JS Abukuma, from its launch to decommissioning, has accrued a service life with a total age of 38 years, while the rest of the ships belonging to the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts will also have such an age of around 30-40 years, wherein by that period it will already transferred to the Philippine Navy and will add to the composition of the service branch’s Offshore Combat Force. Reports gathered have confirmed that the Philippine Navy will probably get all six (6) ships.
As there is the likelihood that the naval service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines will get the ships from Japan that counts as a significant force multiplier gain to the fleet, the next sub-topic will delve more into the ship’s specifications, both in its current configuration and what will be its future configuration given that in Japan will probably remove and replace onboard weaponry and sensors under its joint development and production scheme.
THE SHIP'S SPECIFICATIONS
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| The Abukuma-class destroyer escorts have the hull size and capability of the Jose Rizal-class frigates while having a tonnage of the Rajah Sulayman-class OPVs. Image Source. |
Knowing the ship’s specifications will help provide an idea regarding the capabilities that it possesses, especially understanding its baseline that will give a preference of what the Philippine Navy expects into getting this class of vessel into the fleet.
Just a disclaimer though, some of the information provided here will include its current load-out during its service within the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, as the armaments onboard might likely get removed and replaced with the ones fitting the Philippine Navy’s requirement.
The first one to cover is its hull dimensions, whereby the size of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts comes with 109 meters long, 13.4 meters beam, and a draft of 3.8 meters. Its weight displacement is 2,000 tons at standard configuration, and 2,550 tons at its full load configuration. For comparison, the Jose Rizal-class frigate of the Philippine Navy has a hull size of 107 meters long, 14 meters beam, and a weight displacement of 2,600 tons.
While both the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts and the Jose Rizal-class frigates share almost similar hull size and tonnage, the latter has the advantage of incorporating a more modern shipbuilding design, as it comes with a helipad, helicopter hangar, and a space for incorporating a Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells for its added security against aerial threats, aside from the commonality of armaments between both ships like the 76mm main gun, anti-ship missiles, torpedo mounts, and close-in weapons system (CIWS).
Speaking of armaments, the current weapons load-out of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts in its service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force or JMSDF comes with an Oto Melara 76mm main gun, Type 74 launcher for the RUR-5 ASROC anti-submarine rockets, Mk141 canisters for the RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles in a 4x2 configuration totaling 8 antiship missiles onboard, Type 68 triple-racked torpedo tubes for torpedoes in a 3x2 configuration, and a single Mk15 Phalanx CIWS mount.
Take note that with current restrictions on the Japanese side in the export of weapons under its pacifist constitution, there is a greater likelihood that the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts that the Philippine Navy sets to receive will have a different weapons configuration, as compared to the one when it was still serving the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force or JMSDF. This means the likelihood of getting the RUR-5 ASROC launcher, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and the Phalanx CIWS removed from the ship.
Finally, the propulsion system of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts come with a Combined Diesel or Gas or CODOG configuration, whereby the vessel’s power output originated from two (2) Kawasaki-Rolls-Royce SM1A gas turbines (26650 SHP output) for its performance mode, and two (2) Mitsubishi S12U-MTK diesel engines (at 6000 hp output) for its regular cruising mode, with a total maximum speed of the vessels of around twenty-seven (27) knots.
With the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts that the Philippine Navy receives will probably go differently from their current configuration under the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force given the restrictions, the following discussion subset will encompass other important information relating the joint production and research scheme that this transfer will undertake, along with its future classification within the fleet and the budget for its rearmament of the ships with ones fitted by the Philippine Navy itself.
OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE DEAL
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| The Philippine Navy recently conducted a joint visual inspection in Japan last August 2025. Image Source. |
In August 2025, the Philippine Navy representatives and their Japanese counterparts took part in a joint visual inspection or JVR activity in Japan, specifically at the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force base of Sasebo in Nagasaki.
From here, they inspected the condition of the Abukuma-class destroyer escort JS Jintsu (DE-230) and it served as the basis for inspecting the other ships of the class, differently assigned across Japan’s multiple naval bases.
From here, the information provided from sources confirms that there is a high likelihood that the Philippine Navy will get all the six Abukuma-class destroyer escorts, of which this will provide the much-needed boost to the numerical composition of the naval service branch’s Offshore Combat Force.
This effectively complements the other ships in the fleet, lessening the operational stress of prolonged deployment at sea, while providing the needed presence in the country’s territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone waters.
Despite the boost, it is highly certain that the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force will remove the onboard armaments and leave the fitting of newer ones at the discretion of the Philippine Navy through the Joint Development and Production scheme in a way to skirt current restrictions provided under the current Japanese legal system. This put the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts’ armaments in two (2) likely scenarios as presented in the succeeding sentences of this sub-topic.
The first and most likely outcome is for the Philippine Navy to provide it with the minimum required armaments onboard the ship, with upgrades coming in the succeeding years since its commissioning to the fleet. This means that the ships will get their armaments other than the 76mm Oto Melara main gun removed, while likely remaining as a patrol gunship before the ship gets the needed upgrades, most likely patterned after the armaments already available onboard other Philippine Navy ships.
This means that there is a greater chance that the Philippine Navy will arm the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts, likely getting classified as ‘anti-submarine frigates’ upon joining the fleet the armaments it needs as a direct replacement to the ones removed onboard, such as the SSM-700K Haeseong C-Star anti-ship missiles, K745 Blue Shark Torpedoes, and even the Gokdeniz Close-In Weapons System found onboard the Miguel Malvar-class frigates.
The said weapon upgrades, while theoretical in the basis of streamlining logistical chains, will still change at the discretion of the Philippine Navy leadership’s approach into how it envisions the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts, then frigates, will join the fleet.
Despite this fitting nomenclature of the vessels, this should not stop the fleet from buying more capable vessels that it aims to have, particularly the repeat orders of both the Miguel Malvar (or HDF-3500 under the Full Complement Project), and Jose Rizal-classes.
Still, the deal itself comes as the largest one that the Philippine Navy encounters to date, and is also the largest one that Japan has ever come up with in exporting naval assets, albeit through a transfer, to a foreign country that comes as an immediate neighbor that shares the same national security concerns.
This growing partnership, coupled with the recently ratified Reciprocal Access Agreement of both countries, is a testament of increased defense cooperation between the said countries in the years to come.
LOOKING FORWARD
.png "The Abukuma-class destroyers will get a new life as Philippine Navy vessels.") |
| JS Abukuma (DE-229) is likely the first one to get decommissioned in 2027. (c) Binmei, YouTube. |
For more than thirty (30) years, the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts play a significant role of ensuring the security of Japan’s territorial and exclusive economic zone waters, ensuring that the deterrence exist in keeping intruders from entering its domain, such as what China did with Japan’s southernmost island of Senkaku. Sharing the same concerns in the region, the Philippines receiving these destroyer escorts from Japan is also helping the latter in ensuring the status quo in the region.
The shape in geopolitical dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region made Japan and the Philippines, both countries that bear maritime domains that compose of island groups, share the same interest and concerns with the lingering threat that pose against both of the countries’ sovereignty and national interest, as both experienced the same aggression posed by the regional power’s deployment of its coast guard vessels and maritime militia in a way to increase aggression in an already-dangerous situation.
Japan’s transfer of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts to the Philippine Navy simply comes as one of the recent testament of closer bilateral defense ties between both countries, coupled with overwhelming support for providing the country with the needed tools to support its maritime domain awareness.
One given example coming out of these growing ties is the successful Official Development Aid from JICA for the construction and sale of both the Parola-class and Teresa Magbanua-class MRRVs for the PCG.
Complementing both the pairs of Jose Rizal-class frigate and the Miguel Malvar-class frigate of the Philippine Navy, the number of ships with this classification within the fleet will come at a sum of ten (10) ships, of which it will have followed in by an additional pair of frigates bought under the Frigate Acquisition Project - Full Complement under the Re-Horizon 3 of the Revised AFP Modernization Program. Preferences of the latter project is with either the HDF-3200 or the HDF-3500 designs of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The numbers that might get introduced in the Philippine Navy come as a boost that will probably give the fleet the needed increase of its composition at a short time possible where, alongside the speedy construction of newly built vessels from South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ own shipyard in Ulsan, gives added support not only on providing an assured presence in the Philippine territorial and EEZ waters, but also in ensuring Maritime Domain Awareness in areas like the West Philippine Sea.
Also, introducing the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts to the Philippine Navy will probably ease the operational times that other vessels in the fleet will undertake in the high seas, assuring that there is always a vessel available to undertake maritime defense duties and responsibilities, while minimizing the operational stress that the ships needed, along with having the time allowed for an ensured maintenance and repair periods that will give additional readiness that allow for future patrols.
Looking forward, the Philippine Navy will probably see the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts as an integral part of the fleet itself. And while the naval service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines is gearing itself for a new type of policy direction through the ‘Sail Plan 2040’, the services that these Japanese-made ships will provide to the Philippine Navy will give worth to the territorial defense efforts that the national government aims to achieve against a more powerful adversary.
(c) 2025 PDA.
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