Naval Command, Control and Communications Equipment Lot 4b - Armoring of Communications Vans, Supply and Integration of Communications Systems Acquisition Project of the Philippine Navy
As part of efforts to improve the Command, Control and Communications (C3) capabilities of the Philippine Navy, particularly the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC), the service has made efforts to procure new communications equipment under the Horizon 2 phase of the Revised AFP Modernization Program as part of the Naval Command, Control and Communications Equipment Acquisition Project.
The project has 5 sub-lots that are being procured separately but simultaneously.
This resource page will focus on Lot 4B which is for the Armoring of Communications Vans, and Supply and Integration of Communications Equipment including Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) package.
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| Communications equipment mounted on a vehicle for the US Marine Corps. Photo credits to Strategic Intelligence Service. |
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Project Summary:
Naval Command, Control and Communications Equipment Lot 4B - Armoring of Communications Vans, and Supply and Integration of Communications System:
Note: Edited as of 11 July 2025.
* End User: Philippine Navy (multiple units)
* Quantity: Various HF/VHF/UHF Radios, and Vehicle Armoring for 30 vehicles, 450 units of UHF Handheld radios, and ILS package
* Modernization Phase: Horizon 2 Priority Phase Projects of RAFPMP
* Project ABC: Php429,066,000.00
* Acquisition Mode: Public Bidding
* Source of Funding: Multi-Year Contractual Authority as part of Naval C3 Equipment Acquisition Project, starting FY2021
* SARO Release: TBC
* Winning Proponent: TBC, most likely Joint Venture of Scan Marine Inc. and Impenetra Defense
* Product for Delivery: Armoring of KM452 Communication Vans and integrating Communications Equipment
* Contract Price: Php344,535,408.00
* Residual Price: Php84,530,592.00
* First post by MaxDefense: 13 September 2023
* MaxDefense Searching Hashtag: #PNNC3EquipmentLot4bAcquisition, #PMCNC3EquipmentLot4bAcquisition
* Status: This project is part of the Horizon 2 Phase Priority Projects under RAFPMP, which aims to improve the Command, Control and Communications (C3) capabilities of the Philippine Marine Corps. This lot specifically covers armoring and vehicle reconfiguration, and the supply and integration of various communications radio and equipment. Public Bidding opened 05 July 2023, SOBE on 16 August 2023. Bidding failed, and was restarted on 30 November 2023, with SOBE scheduled on 20 December 2023. As per DND PMR dated 01 July 2025, the Notice of Award has been released on 16 December 2024, and the Contract was signed on 10 April 2025. No information on who the winning proponent, but is highly likely to be the Joint Venture of Scan Marine Inc. and Impenetra Defense.
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Overview:
The Philippine Navy has allotted more than Php2 billion for the acquisition of new communications equipment that will be used by both the Philippine Navy proper and the Philippine Marine Corps.
The Lot 4b focuses on up-armoring new communications vans being acquired under the Lot 4a of the project, as well as acquisition and integration of communications equipment to be installed on these new vans.
A budget of Php428,066,000.00 was allocated for the project, and will be acquired through public bidding, preferably by local suppliers.
The project as a whole was planned to be funded through Multi-Year Contractual Authority (MYCA) payments for 4 years beginning 2021, although several sub-lots of the project itself only started in 2022. Lot 4B itself only started on September 2023, and is expected to be completed in 360 days from release of Notice to Proceed, or somewhere around early 2025.
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| An example of a vehicle armoring facility. Photo credits to Armored Vehicles Pakistan. |
Based on simple mathematics, a budget of Php14.3 million is allocated for the acquisition of communications systems, integrating them with the communications van, armoring the communications vans and integrated logistics support.
Based on the technical specifications of the project, the vehicle to be used will be the Kia KM452 1 1/4-ton vehicle with shop van body. At least we know that the vehicle is no stranger to the Philippine Navy & Philippine Marine Corps. It is surprising though that armoring was not made prior to delivery of the vehicles, which may mean that either the price of armoring in South Korea is far higher than doing it in the Philippines, or Kia has not offered to have them armored.
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| The Kia KM452 shop van variant of the venerable Kia KM450 1 1/4-ton truck. Photo credits to Kia Motors. |
The technical specifications also mentioned the requirements to be as follows:
Communications Equipment - must be interoperable with the Philippine Navy's existing radios and include the following:
1. HF Transceiver Base Radio
2. VHF Air Band Base Radio
3. VHF Marine Band Base Radio
4. UHF Base Radio
5. UHF Repeater System
6. IP Radios
7. Satellite Phone
9. Satellite Internet Broadband
10. VTC Camera
11. PA System
12. Telescopic Antenna
13. Portable Generators
14. Uninterruptible Power Supply
Armoring and Vehicle Reconfiguration - at least CEN 1063 Level B6 / NIJ Level 3 / STANAG 1 - High Powered Rifle Kinetic Energy ballistic protection against 5.56mm and 7.62mm rounds
In addition, the project calls for the proponent to supply 450 units of UHF Handheld radios.
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U P D A T E S:
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11 September 2023:
The Department of National Defense (DND) has opened a public bidding for the Naval Command, Control, and Communications Equipment Lot 4B - Armoring of Communication Vans, and Supply and Integration of Communications Equipment with ILS Acquisition Project of the Philippine Navy.
The tender was opened on 08 September 2023, with the Submission and Opening of Bid Envelopes (SOBE) scheduled on 04 October 2023, subject to changes depending on requests by proponents or changes from the Philippine Navy of DND Bids and Awards Committee 2.
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18 December 2023:
It appears that the initial tender process failed, and the project bidding was restarted on 30 November 2023, with SOBE scheduled on 20 December 2023. It remains to be seen if this will proceed as planned.
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04 February 2025:
During the 28th Anniversary of the Philippine Navy's Naval Information and Communication Technology Center last 23 January 2025, the Philippine Navy unveiled the delivery of 30 new Kia KM452 Communication Vans, which were acquired under the Naval Command, Control and Communications Equipment Lot 4a - Communication Vans with ILS Acquisition Project, which is a Horizon 2 Priority Phase project under RAFPMP.
These vehicles were delivered by South Korea's KIA Corporation and were acquired for Php170.590 million.
These are aimed to provide the Philippine Marine Corps with additional communication vehicles that have longer range and more versatility compared to Manpack and Handheld radios, including ability to communication with ships and aircraft, and direct connection to the Philippine Marine Corps / Philippine Navy headquarters, or even the Armed Foeces of the Philippines headquarters itself and connected to the overall C4ISTAR system being built by the AFP and all the 3 services branches.
Based on the photos, it appears that the vans do not have the communications equipment yet, which are being acquired under the Lot 4b - Communication Vans Armoring and Integration of Communications Equipment.
It is highly possible that Impenetra Defense and Scan Marine are poised to win the job, which has a budget of Php429.066 million and involves supplying the needed communicatio s equipment, integrating them to the new Kia KM452 comms cvans, and uparmoring the vehicles.
So far PhilGEPS has not released information if the project has already been awarded although normally PhilGEPS is delayed in posting updates by at least several weeks.
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| KM452 communication vans have been delivered to the Philippine Navy although no sign of armoring or communications equipment integration. Photo credits to Impenetra Defense's Facebook page. |
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11 July 2025:
The DND's Procurement Monitoring Report for 1st Half of 2025 dated 01 July 2025 indicated that the Notice of Award for this project has been released on 16 December 2024, and that the Contract was signed on 10 April 2025.
Our parent page MaxDefense Philippines believes that the project was awarded to the Joint Venture of Scan Marine Inc. and Impenetra Defense.
Scan Marine will conduct the integration of the communications systems to the Kia KM452 communication vans, while Impenetra Defense will undertake the armoring of the vehicles.
While PHILGeps has not been updated to reflect who the winning proponent is, Impenetra Defense's video last February 2025 on their presence during the display of the new Kia KM452 comm vans, or two months after the Notice of Award has been released, is a strong sign that the company won the project and was only awaiting for the project to proceed when the video was released.
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