Tarlac-class landing platform dock
BRP Tarlac (LD-601) underway in May 2016
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Tarlac |
| Builders: | PT PAL (Persero), Surabaya, Indonesia |
| Operators: |
 Philippine Navy
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| Cost: | $46 million (without weapons and sensors) |
| In service: | June 1, 2016- present |
| Planned: | 5 (1 modified as hospital ship) |
| Active: | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Landing Platform Dock |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 123 m (404 ft) |
| Beam: | 21.8 m (72 ft) |
| Draft: | 5 m (16 ft) |
| Installed power: | 1 x MAN D 2842 LE301 diesel generator |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h) maximum |
| Range: | 9,360 nautical miles (17,300 km) |
| Endurance: | 30 days |
| Boats & landing craft carried: |
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| Capacity: | 500 troops and associated vehicles & equipment |
| Complement: | 121 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Electronic warfare & decoys: |
Electronic Warfare Suite (planned) |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 2 × AW109 Power |
| Aviation facilities: | Hangar and flight deck for 2 medium helicopters |
The Tarlac class is a ship class of landing platform docks, based on the Indonesian Navy's Makassar class, that will be commissioned under the Philippine Navy. Two ships were ordered and constructed by the Indonesian state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL (Persero). The lead ship was launched on 17 January 2016 as BRP Tarlac. The second ship was delivered on May 10th 2017 and named as BRP Davao del Sur. The class was initially called the "Strategic Sealift Vessel" before the class was formally named.
Construction of the first unit already started in January 2015 and was delivered in July 2016, while the second unit started a few months after and delivered by 2017 after going through sea trials. These ships would be the first of its kind to be operated by the Philippine Navy, and are meant to be used for amphibious operations and transport duties in support of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, but will double as a support platform for Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) and Search & Rescue (SAR) operations.
The original strategic sealift vessel project was based on a proposal to acquire a converted Ro-Ro (Roll On - Roll Off) vessel from Japan as recommended by the Center of Naval Leadership & Excellence in 2009. Purchase and technical assistance was to be provided by the DBP Maritime Leasing Corporation Inc. (DMLC). It was one of the priority items in the wish list for purchase between 2012 and 2016 presented by the armed forces to the House of Representatives' committee on national defense and security on 26 January 2011. But this project did not push through due to delays in budget allocation and with the ship being offered and sold to another buyer.
Initially a separate project from the Strategic Sealift Vessel, the Department of National Defense (DND) was rushing the acquisition of one or two multi-role vessels (MRV) for the Philippine Navy through government-to-government contract at a cost of 5 to 10 billion pesos. Initially the reported source of the said ships is either South Korea or Singapore. Previous statements and news reports indicate that the multi-role vessels are comparable to landing platform docks operated by foreign navies like the Singaporean Endurance class or the Spanish Galicia class. It was later confirmed that the ship would be from South Korea and is a variant of the Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL) Makassar class LPD, and is packaged with four units Samsung Techwin KAAV-7 amphibious assault vehicles (AAV), two units Daesun 23-meter landing craft utility LCU-23, four units 9.8-meter rigid-hulled inflatable boats, one unit truck-based mobile hospital, two units Kia KM-250 2 1⁄2-ton troop trucks, two units Kia KM-450 1 1⁄4-ton troop trucks, two units Kia KM-450 ambulances, two units Kia Retona 1/4-ton utility vehicles, and one unit forklift/cargo handling equipment.
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