Philippine Navy's Additional Anti-Submarine Helicopter Procurement

As the Philippine Navy increases the number of ships in its fleet, followed by the successful awarding of the Frigate Acquisition Project - Full Complement for the construction and delivery of two (2) additional Miguel Malvar-class guided missile frigates by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, adding more anti-submarine helicopters into the fleet comes as a follow-on to this development relating to the service branch's ongoing fleet expansion.

AT A GLANCE

A single AW-159 Wildcat anti-submarine helicopter of the Philippine Navy on display.
Image Source.

Through the end of the year 2025, the service branches under the Armed Forces of the Philippines are securing one project after the other, especially with the Philippine Navy securing most of its fleet expansion and capability building programs as highlighted in the Procurement Monitoring Report issued by the Department of National Defense encompassing the second half of the said year. We already discussed one project as covered in this monitoring report, involving the purchase of two additional frigates.

Another project of the Philippine Navy covered in the procurement monitoring report covers the purchase of additional Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Helicopters for the Philippine Navy, whereby it secured both the contract and the notice to proceed documents on December 29, 2025, just days before the calendar year ends. The pre-procurement conference took place on September 30, 2025, with Negotiated Procurement being the mode of acquisition as prescribed in Republic Act 12009.

The deal, which comes through an items-based form of procurement, will probably come with the Philippine Navy dealing with the Italian defense manufacturer Leonardo, involving the production and delivery of at least six (6) AW-159 Wildcat anti-submarine helicopters for the service branch's Naval Air Warfare Force unit or NAWF. 

Currently, the unit maintains and operates at least two (2) AW-159 Wildcat anti-submarine helicopters, typically in tandem with the Jose Rizal-class guided-missile frigates currently in service.

Amounting to Php 42.290 billion at its contract price, this is one of the most expensive acquisition project that the Philippine Navy has undertaken at the time this article gets published, at par to the contract price for two (2) additional HDF-3200/Miguel Malvar-class guided missile frigate under the Frigate Acquisition Program - Full Complement, which has a contract price of Php 42.195 billion. This increases the number of AW-159 Wildcats in Philippine Navy service to at least eight (8) units.

In this discussion, the details will delve less on the platform itself, as this was covered in a previous article on this website published in 2019, referring to the two first units already serving the service branch ever since. Instead, the details will cover the lineup of current and future naval warships for the six (6) AW-159 Wildcat anti-submarine helicopters that might get assigned into, along with the anti-submarine capabilities that came with the units ordered by the service branch.

THE DEAL WITH THE ITALIAN DEFENSE SUPPLIER

The AW 109 helicopter currently maintained by the Philippine Air Force.
From Jet Photos.

Since the start of the Revised AFP Modernization Program Horizon Levels in 2013, the Italian defense supplier Leonardo (then Finmeccanica) has provided rotary aerospace support for the Armed Forces of the Philippines as its weaponry requirements becoming more complex and expensive over time, as this is exhibited with the type of helicopter and the number of units that a service branch of the Philippine military has bought through the years through this supplier.

For context, the Philippine Air Force bought at least eight (8) AW 109 helicopters for its air support operations in a contract signed on November 2013, making it as the service branch’s mainstay attack helicopter until the purchase and arrival of the six (6) T-129 ATAK helicopter that they bought from Turkish Aerospace Industries through a contract that was signed in July 2020. The contract price for the Turkish-made attack helicopters amounted to US$269 million or Php 12.9 billion.

With the contract price of Php 3.441 billion during the contract signing in 2013 (Php 5.178 billion as adjusted to inflation), the perspective of the AW 109 helicopters bought by the Philippine Air Force today might count as a minor one compared to the current budgetary requirements for the purchase of six (6) AW 159 Wildcat anti-submarine warfare helicopters, as the latter comes with more complex and more sophisticated sensors and weaponry onboard fitting for anti-submarine operations.

The presented numerical perspective gives an insight into the growth of the relations between Leonardo as the supplier and the Armed Forces of the Philippines through the Philippine Navy as the end-user, although this deal comes at the basis of an inventory-based form of procurement, whereby the aforementioned service branch already has the skills and experience maintaining and operating the AW 159 Wildcat Helicopters, with the aim of just adding the units being the most logical way to go.

As the deal involves the purchase of six (6) units of anti-submarine warfare helicopters meant for the operational requirements of the Naval Air Warfare Force (NAWF) as a support component of the Philippine Navy’s Offshore Combat Force (OCF) and its primary naval combatants deployed at sea, the next point of discussion will delve primarily to the naval vessel composition of the Philippine Navy fleet where these naval helicopters will probably end up getting assigned into, along with its crew.

THE FLEET COMPOSITION AND PROJECTED HELICOPTER ASSIGNMENT

The Miguel Malvar-class guided-missile frigates are among the likely recipients of the new anti-submarine helicopters. 
From Clinton J Down Photography, via Image Source.

The orders made for the additional AW 159 Wildcat anti-submarine helicopters always gives correspondence to the tandem of warships that the units are most likely get assigned into, as this completes the capability of the Philippine Navy’s formidable combatant vessels relating to the detection and eliminating any underwater threats that are lurking in areas of concern, specifically on areas of water that are within the country’s archipelagic geography during the times of heightened conflict in a scenario.

For context, the purchase of two (2) AW 159 Wildcat anti-submarine helicopters in 2019 goes in tandem to the purchase and construction of two (2) Jose Rizal-class guided missile frigates that have gotten delivered in 2020 and 2021 for both BRP Jose Rizal and BRP Antonio Luna, respectively. 

This means that the purchase of both the ship and the helicopter forms a comprehensive anti-submarine warfare package for the Philippine Navy that applies to the purchase of six (6) additional anti-submarine helicopters of the type.

In this current setup, two (2) units out of six (6) units ordered will go to the newly commissioned guided missile frigates of the Philippine Navy from 2025, namely the ships BRP Miguel Malvar and BRP Diego Silang, respectively. The other two (2) units will go to the pair of ships produced under the Frigate Acquisition Project - Full Complement Program, which are basically a repeat order of the Miguel Malvar-class frigates already in service with the fleet, increasing the number of such ships in the class to four (4) vessels.

This leaves the remaining two (2) units ordered under this program for anti-submarine warfare helicopters, whereby it will go as intended by the end-user, either as a land-based anti-submarine platform or as a complementary one for the likely second batch of vessels under a new iteration of the Corvette Acquisition Project - similar to the one that the Philippine Navy did for the Frigate Full Complement Program that are now under construction in HD Hyundai shipyard at the time of this writing.

Upon completion, eight (8) anti-submarine warfare helicopters will form part of the Philippine Navy’s added capabilities in conjunction to the guided missile frigates already in service, plus two (2) more vessels should the service branch pursue it, whereby it adds the coverage into the territorial and exclusive economic zone waters of the country against threats that are lurking beneath the surface, where it will surely disrupt the country’s economic activity at the time of conflict.

KNOWING THE THALES UNDERWATER FLASH DIPPING SONAR

Dipping sonar systems play a crucial role in an anti-submarine helicopter's capability.
Image Source.

One crucial capability of an anti-submarine helicopter that was not previously discussed on previous articles made relating to this topic involves an essential detection feature that not only helps detect a submarine at a glance but also helps triangulate the detection of submarines, enabling both the helicopter pilots and crew onboard a surface combatant warship to close coordinate for eliminating the target from threatening the national interest of an archipelagic country, especially if it took place within territorial waters.

This essential capability refers to the anti-submarine helicopter’s own flash-dipping sonar, whereby it plays a crucial role in detecting submarines that is complementary to a warship’s hull-mounted and towed array sonar systems installed onboard. 

The said feature enables the navy to detect submarines without having much risk of retaliating back, as employing active sonar system features to detect submarines also reveals the location of the ping’s origin, making an unprepared vessel vulnerable to counterattack.

For the Leonardo AW-159 Wildcat anti-submarine helicopters that the Philippine Navy currently has, plus the additional units already on order, such capability comes through the Thales Underwater Flash Dipping Sonar, which comes from the supplier that provides the CAPTAS family of towed array sonars that have offered to the service branch for its surface combatants belonging to the Offshore Combat Force as shown in a demonstration during the 2024 Asian Defense and Security (ADAS) Exhibition in the country.

The Thales Underwater Flash Dipping Sonar comes with its own capabilities, one of which is already given among dipping sonar systems, which is to minimize exposure while hunting a submarine. 

Its capabilities also come with optimization regarding the automation of its deployment and recovery, giving added agility to the anti-submarine helicopter’s performance during demanding operations, aside from having an optimization of its detection by having a 750-meter maximum depth deployment. 

Already operated by eighteen (18) navies worldwide, including the Philippine Navy, the dipped sonar system provided by Thales for the AW159 Wildcat anti-submarine helicopters help complete the performance needed for these units as intended for its original design elements, as this gives an essential tool for the service branch’s Offshore Combat Force personnel to conduct operations that deter underwater threats that put risk both on security and maritime logistics lifeline of the country.

ENDING NOTE

The AW-159 Wildcat anti-submarine helicopter will be the Philippine Navy's mainstay ASW helicopter platform.
Image Source.

The purchase of six (6) additional anti-submarine warfare helicopters for the Philippine Navy provides a significant benefit not only in expanding the capabilities of the service branch’s Naval Air Warfare Force in deterring underwater threats, but also gives expanded detection coverage of the country’s continental shelf domain, as it is the duty for an archipelagic country like the Philippines to ensure the safety and security of the country’s maritime-related national interest.

This also presents an opportunity for the supplier, like Leonardo, to expand its share in the Philippine defense market, adding up to the portfolio of products successfully sold to the Armed Forces of the Philippines that are still in operation at the time this article has been written. 

Aside from the expanded market share, this also gives expanded benefits for a streamlined supply chain for spare parts support for the helicopter’s upkeep, as sharing a similar type provides smooth logistics and learning skills on its operations.

To add further, the additional AW-159 Wildcat anti-submarine helicopter presents itself as a continuous investment of both the Department of National Defense and the Philippine Navy in its expanded capabilities under the Revised AFP Modernization Program as enacted under the Republic Act 10349, as this comes in tandem with the ongoing and future fleet expansion projects of the service branch. The Miguel Malvar-class guided-missile frigates are among the recipients of this development.

With the ongoing purchase of additional frigates under the Frigate Acquisition Project - full complement and the likely plans for the future purchase of corvettes, the numbers presented for additional AW-159 Wildcat anti-submarine helicopter orders give sense, as its designed role in the fleet usually goes complementary to the ship it gets assigned into, especially with the ship’s onboard sensors and weapons suite also comes with hunting underwater threats like submarines in mind.

On its entirety, the Philippine Navy’s additional anti-submarine warfare capabilities presents an opportunity for the fleet to increase its capabilities on this specialized field, coming alongside its proposals relating to the purchase of its own submarines that gives added symmetry to the warfare dynamics that intertwine the country’s geography to its aspirations for a comprehensive Maritime Domain Awareness. This forms part of an external defense posture that is not limited to just weapons and arms purchases.

(c) 2026 PDA.

Published from a station in Eastern Visayas. 

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