: These ships were meant to provide a "stop-gap" capability to address growing territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
While the Philippines initially considered purchasing from Italy as part of its military modernization, the deal was ultimately dropped in favor of acquiring brand-new, more advanced vessels . The Botched Maestrale Deal philippines buying maestrale frigates
In 2012–2013, the Philippine Department of National Defense (DND) explored acquiring two retired Maestrale -class frigates from the Italian Navy for roughly $270 million. : These ships were meant to provide a
: Military leaders eventually decided that used 20-year-old ships would have maintenance costs that were too high. Instead, they opted to pursue a competitive bidding process for brand-new frigates . : Military leaders eventually decided that used 20-year-old
: The Maestrale frigates were eventually sold to Indonesia in a larger deal involving modern FREMM frigates. Shift to South Korean Warships