According to a statement published by the Colombian Navy on January 6, 2021, the Pohang-class missile corvette donates by South Korea to Colombia was officially christened ARC Almirante Tono and commissioned by the Colombian navy.
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The official ceremony for the commissioning of the Colombian Navy Pohang-class missile corvette Almirante Tono donated by South Korea. (Picture source Colombian Navy)
In November 2020, Navy Recognition has published news announcing the transfer of the new Colombian Navy Pohang-class missile corvette Almirante Tono donated by South Korea.
The Pohang-class corvette christened Iksan PCC-768 by the South Korean Navy in March 1987. She was decommissioned in December 2018 and transferred to the Colombian Navy in February 1999 under the name of ARC Almirante Tono.
The Pohang-class corvette Iksan (PCC-768) was manufactured by the South Korean Company Hyundai Heavy Industries and launched in March 1987. A total of 24 Pohang-class vessels were built, all constructed in South Korea. 10 vessels remain in service in the ROKN as of 2020.
The Pohang-class corvette has been designed to conduct coastal patrol and is equipped with combat weapon systems to perform anti-submarine, anti-ship, and anti-aircraft warfare operations. The ship has an empty displacement of 950 tons, a length of 88.3 m, a beam of 10 m, and a draft of 2.9m. She has a crew of 95 people including 10 officers.
The ARC Almirante Tono is a Flight IV version in the Pohang-class corvette family. The ship is armed with two OTO Melara 76 mm/62 compact naval gun, two twin Otobreda 40mm/70 caliber Close-In Weapon System, four RGM-84 Harpoon Block 1B anti-ship missiles, four SSM-700K Haeseong anti-ship cruise missiles, two triple KMk 32 Torpedo Tubes with K745 Chung Sang Eo and Mistral MANPADS air defense missile system as well as four 7.62 machine guns.
