Philippines Navy showed interest to purchase Scorpene-class submarines from France.

According to a news published on the Philippine news agency website, July 25, 2019, the Navy of Philippines shown interest to purchase French Scorpene-class submarines designed and manufactured by the Company Naval Group. The Philippines Ministry of Defense is also looking into the proposals made by Russia, South Korea, Germany and France for the submarine acquisition program.

Royal Malaysian Navy's Scorpene-class submarine (Picture source Wikipedia)

On July 24, 2019, the Defense Secretary of Philippines, Delfin Lorenzana has announced during an interview with the Philippine News Agency, "The Scorpene is one of the submarines being evaluated by the Armed Forces of our country".

The Scorpene-class submarine is a diesel-electric attack submarine jointly developed by the French Direction des Constructions Navales (DCNS) and the Spanish company Navantia, and now by Naval Group. It features diesel propulsion and additional air-independent propulsion (AIP).

The Scorpene submarines can undertake multifarious types of missions i.e Anti-Surface warfare, Anti-Submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying, area surveillance, etc. The submarine is designed to operate in all theatres, with means provided to ensure interoperability with other components of a Naval Task Force. It is a potent platform, marking a generational shift in submarine operations.

The Scorpene-class submarines have ensured superior stealth features such as advanced acoustic silencing techniques, low radiated noise levels, hydro-dynamically optimized shape and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision-guided weapons. The attack can be launched with both torpedoes and tube-launched anti-ship missiles, whilst underwater or on the surface. The stealth of this potent platform is enhanced by the special attention given to various signatures. These stealth features give it an invulnerability, unmatched by most submarines.

The Scorpene-class submarines are currently in service with Brazil, Chile, India, Malaysia, Norway, Poland, and Spain.