Mortar Acquisition Project Lot 1 - 60mm Mortar of the Philippine Navy (Marines)

The Department of National Defense (DND) has started the procurement process for the acquisition of Mortars for the Philippine Navy (PN), specifically for its sub-unit, the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC).

These additional new mortars will help improve the firepower and fire support capability of each of the Marine Battalion Landing Teams (MBLT), which are considered by many as under-equipped in terms of fire support assets.

The project, called the Mortar Acquisition Project of the Philippine Navy, is among the Horizon 2 Phase Priority Projects under the Revised AFP Modernization Program (RAFPMP), as covered by Republic Act 10349.

This specific resource page covers the Mortar Acquisition Project Lot 1 - 60mm Mortars.

An M224 60mm mortar used by the US Marine Corps. Photo credits to Military.com.

Project Summary:

Mortar Lot 1 - 60mm Mortar Acquisition Project

Note: edit as of 08 February 2026.

* End User: Philippine Navy (Philippine Marine Corps)

* Quantity: 240 units of 60mm mortars, 20 ballistic computers, 50 rounds each of High Explosive (HE), Illumination, and Smoke 60mm Training Ammunition, including support systems, ILS and training

* Modernization Phase: Horizon 2 Phase Priority Projects

* Project ABC: Php444,530,757.00

* Acquisition Mode: Public Bidding after failure of previous Negotiated Procurement / Government-to-Government with Spanish Ministry of Defense.

* Source of Funding: GAA FY2022 Funds through AFP Modernization Program Trust Fund

* Tender Number: DND/PN-MORTAR-25-01

* SARO Release: 
   - SARO-BMB-D-23-0022489 dated 16 August 2023 (full amount)
   - SARO-BMB-D-24-0004657 dated 25 June 2024 (full amount to replace earlier SARO from 2023 that was not released.

* Winning Proponent: Rheinmetall EXPAL Systems S.A. (Spain)

* Product for Delivery: RSG60 two-in-one 60mm light mortar model with Techfire Ballistic Computer and Fire Control System
 
* Contract Price: Php444,385,632.93, previously Php444,435,636.00 during initial attempt.

* Residual Amount: Php145,124.07

* First post by MaxDefense: June 2019 (see MD's AFP Modernization Program List)

* MaxDefense Searching Hashtag/s: #PN60mmMortarAcquisition #PMC60mmMortarAcquisition

* Status: Mode of Procurement changed to Negotiated Procurement, with Terms of Reference approved on 28 April 2022. SARO for full project amount was released on 16 August 2023. NOA was released in favor of Expal Systems S.A on 17 January 2024, although the project's SARO was reissued on 25 June 2024 which means the project was stalled and funding was not released in 2023. The project was proposed to become part of the Horizon 2 Subsystems Projects as part of the Horizon 3 phase, but this was reverted back to Horizon 2 as part of the Re-Horizon 3 phase's implementation in 2024. No confirmation of Contract Signing or NTP release as of 05 January 2025, and project appears to have been cancelled. Public Bidding was initiated with the same budget, with the tender opened on 11 October 2025 and SOBE scheduled on 06 November 2025. Rheinmetall EXPAL Systems was declared winning bidder with NOA released on 03 December 2025.

Overview:

Lessons learned from previous encounters prompted the Corps to pursue the need to employ a mortar system in order to have the capability to easily provide the necessary combat power for the Marine Rifle Company in support of its units waiting for, or in absence of the Battalion combat support.

Another reason is that apart from being vintage, the current 81mm mortar system in the PMC inventory have been used overtime which makes its quality no longer the same as it was before. 

Technological advancement is also a prime factor that was considered for this procurement. The advent of the Ballistic Computer will enable our mortar crews to react faster than the manual computation which gives the end user a quick and responsive indirect fire support. 

The Philippine Navy has originally planned to procure a total of 420 units of infantry mortars of different sizes for the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC), consisting of 240 units of 60mm mortars, 120 units of 81mm mortars, and 60 units of 120mm mortars, as part of the Horizons 1 to 3 program of the RAFPMP.

All 420 mortars were programmed for acquisition under the Horizon 2 Phase.

The 60mm mortars are expected to be assigned at a company level as part of a heavy weapons section to support all units operating under the company. 

But the final version of the Horizon 2 Priority Projects list approved by Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte and released in June 2018 significantly reduced the budget to just Php694,452,000.00, which effectively reduces the quantity of the mortars that can be acquired.

This can be confirmed with the release of the DND Bids and Awards Committee Resolution No. DND/PN-MAP-81MM-L2-19-04 dated 07 November 2019 which indicated that only 240 units of 60mm mortars, 30 units of 81mm Mortars (instead of 120 units) and 8 units of 120mm mortars (instead of 60 units) would be procured.

The Mortar Acquisition Project was suppose to be funded under the AFP Modernization Program for Fiscal Year 2018, but this was pushed back, with the  Lot 1 - 60mm Mortar Acquisition now funded under AFP Modernization Program for Fiscal Year 2022.

Based on the Procurement Monitoring Report by the DND as of January 2024, the project was described as "for issuance of Notice of Award in favor of EXPAL Systems S.A., which already got the previous contracts for both Lots 2 and 3 of the project.

In 2013, EXPAL supplied the Hungarian Ground Forces with its M-08 Combi mortar. Prior to the availability of the technical specifications, it was believed that a variant could be the one offered for the Philippine Marine Corps. Photo credits to Wikipedia.

Interesting enough, the project appears to have been scrapped after the project was awarded to Spanish company EXPAL Systems S.A. on 17 January 2024 as the project, originally sought as a Negotiated Procurement, did not reach contract signing and was restarted in early 2025 and was sought after through Public Bidding.

Rheinmetall EXPAL Systems S.A. (as the company was known now) won the public bidding as of December 2025, but this also allowed us to see the technical specifications of the project.


Technical Specifications:

According to the tender documents, the main points of the technical specifications are as follows:

Caliber: 60mm, Combi Type
Weight: Commando Firing Position - not more than 8 kilograms
              Bipod Firing Position - not more than 16 kilograms
Barrel Length: within 650mm
Range: 100 meters minimum, 2,400 meters or higher maximum
Rate of Fire: 10 rounds per minute maximum, 4 rounds per minute sustained
Durability: Can withstand adverse conditions, minimum tube life of 10,000 rounds, with 2 years of integrated logistics support (ILS)
Ballistic Computer: Intel i7-1165G7 processor or higher, Intel UHD graphics 615 or higher, Windows 11 or higher, 16gb DDR memory or higher, 512gb SSD hard drive storage or higher, 11.6" LCD screen, 1920 x 1080 sunlight viewable screen or better


The requirement for the mortar to be a two-in-one model, which means that it could either be a Commando-type variant without the bipid, or a standard Infantry-type with bipod means that Rheinmentall EXPAL Systems could be offering either the older M-08 or their newer RSG60 two-in-one 60mm lightweight mortar system.

While both the M-08 and the new RSG60, introduced only in 2019, meets the weight requirements in the Commando-mode configuration, only the RSG60 meets the same requirements for Conventional configuration with the baseplate and bipod included at 15.8 kilograms versus the M-08's 18.5 kilograms.

While not part of the requirement, Rheinmetall EXPAL Systems also developed a carrying system that allows an infantryman to carry the mortar in a backpack-like system with a total weight of around 23 kilograms.

Based on previous delivery to the PMC, it also appears that they will be combining this with the Arquimea Techfire ballistic and fire control system.

The RSG60 lightweight 60mm mortar system. Photo credits to EDG Magazine.

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U P D A T E S:
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06 March 2023:

The DND has released a Procurement Monitoring Report as of January 2023 indicating that the Lot 1 - 60mm Mortar Acquisition Project is still being negotiated and has not yet moved on beyond that process.

This is one of the projects that we would be watching this year as it is expected to be awarded soon, as its funding might expire and it would not be in the best interest of the DND and the Philippine Navy.

EXPAL previously supplied the Hungarian Ground Forces with its M-08 Combi mortar. A variant of this design could be the one EXPAL could offer to the Philippine Navy. Photo credits to Wikipedia.

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22 August 2023:

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released the SARO for the full amount of the project's cost as of 16 August 2023.

Based on the SARO, the amount is different from the budget which means that the SARO amount is the contract value with the winning proponent costing Php444,435,636.00, or Php95,121.00 less than the ABC.

Also, we received confirmation that Spain's EXPAL Systems is the supplier for this project, which is also the same supplier for the Philippine Navy (Marines) 81mm and 120mm Mortar Acquisition Projects.

SARO screenshot showing the actual SARO release details. Photo screenshot from DBM SARO 2023 listing.

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28 June 2024:

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has re-issued the SARO for the project, worth the full contract cost, as of 25 June 2024.

This means that despite the issuance of SARO in 2023, the project appears to have not pushed through, and it was only in 2024 that the issue was settled.

It remains to be seen what the issue was that held the project for a year.

Screenshot from DBM SARO 2024.

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20 July 2024:

The latest Procurement Monitoring Report (PMR) released by the DND dated 05 July 2024 confirmed that the Notice of Award was released on 17 January 2024. An earlier PMR released on January 2024 confirmed that the DND will be issuing the NOA in favor of Expal Systems S.A.

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08 February 2026:

Recent events confirmed that the initial award of the project to EXPAL Systems S.A. did not moved forward, with the project cancelled for unknown reasons.

In return, a new tender was opened, this time through public bidding under DND/PN-MORTAR-25-01 dated 11 October 2025, and the SOBE was scheduled on 06 November 2025.

Rheinmetall EXPAL Systems S.A. (as the company is now known) won the tender with a bid slightly less than their original offer back in 2024, with a Notice of Award released in their favor on 03 December 2025. No contract or NTP release have been published so far.

In a related information, based on the Supplemental Bid Bulletin No. DND/PA-MORTAR-26-01 for the Philippine Army's 60mm and 81mm Mortars Acquisition Project released on 05 February 2026, Rheinmetall EXPAL Systems mentioned that it has delivered mortars to both the Philippine Army and Philippine Marine Corps, including mentioning that their Techfire fire control system and ballistic computer being in service.

This may point out to the delivery of 81mm and 120mm mortars under the Mortar Acquisition Project Lot 2 - 81mm Mortars and Lot 3 - 120mm Mortars for the Philippine Marines have already been delivered.

This is the Techfire Ballistic Computer and Fire Control System delivered by Rheinmetall EXPAL Systems to the Philippine Marine Corps and Philippine Army as part of their delivery of 60mm and 81mm mortars. Photo credits to Arquimea.

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First edit and release: 06 March 2023
Copyright MaxDefense Philippines / Philippine Defense Resource