Video shows Singaporean-Swedish design for Singapore's navy, not 'Philippine-made warship'

This article is more than one year old.
Published on May 30, 2023 at 05:04
3 min read
By Faith BROWN, AFP Philippines, AFP Singapore

A video has been viewed tens of thousands of times in posts that falsely claim it shows a Philippine Navy warship that was made locally. But Singapore's defence ministry told AFP the video was issued by its navy and shows the design for a vessel jointly developed by the country's Defence Science and Technology Agency and Swedish company Saab Kockums. A Philippine Navy spokesman separately said the ship in the video is not one being built as part of the archipelago's defence programme.

"YOU WILL BE IMPRESSED WITH THIS PHILIPPINE-MADE WAR SHIP!" reads the Tagalog-language title of a video shared on YouTube here on May 17, 2023.

The thumbnail image shows what appears to be a military vessel plastered with Philippine flags above Tagalog-language text that says, "NEW PHILIPPINE WARSHIP IS PHILIPPINE-MADE".

The clip, which has been viewed more than 83,000 times, appears to show a computer-generated military vessel from various angles while it moves through the water.

Tagalog text overlaid on the clip as it plays also claims the ship was made in the Philippines.

Screenshot of the false YouTube video, captured on May 26, 2023

The post circulated weeks after US and Philippine troops fired a salvo of rockets at a warship representing an enemy vessel in the disputed South China Sea, in the final exercise of the allies' largest-ever military drills.

The drills aimed to boost Manila's military capability while serving as a US show of support for its Asian ally as China's assertiveness in the region grows stronger.

While the post says it shows a "video reaction parody (sic)", comments suggest some users believed the clip showed a Philippine-made navy vessel.

"Why isn't this being reported on the news?" one user asked.

Another said: "Wow, long live the Philippines, it was constructed nicely."

A link to the video was shared on Facebook here, and a similar video was shared alongside the same claim on Facebook here.

But the clip does not show a Philippine-made warship.

Singapore navy footage

A reverse image search found the footage has been published in a report by Singapore-based news channel CNA on YouTube here on May 4 about a modern warship being developed by Singapore and a Swedish company for Singapore's navy (archived link).

The footage used in the news report shows that parts of the video used in the false post have been horizontally flipped and cropped.

The news report shows the full length of the ship, including the stern, where Singapore's naval ensign can be seen flying (archived link). The clip in the news report also includes a credit to the Singapore Navy.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video used in the false post (left) and footage included in the CNA report (right) with the video credit and naval ensign highlighted by AFP:

Screenshot comparison of the video used in the false post (left) and footage included in the CNA report (right)

A representative for Singapore's Ministry of Defence told AFP the footage appeared to have been taken from a video that was issued by the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).

"The video RSN issued showcased the Multi-Role Combat Vessel (MRCV), which is jointly designed by Singapore's Defence Science and Technology Agency and Sweden's Saab Kockums for the RSN," the representative said on May 26.

News of the collaboration was shared on the Defence Science and Technology Agency's Facebook page here on April 7 (archived link).

The MRCVs will replace the navy's existing fleet of Victory-class Missile Corvettes (MCVs) from 2028, according to the Ministry of Defence's official website (archived link).

It says: "The MRCV employs key technologies such as configurable modular payloads and unmanned systems, allowing the vessel to function as a 'mothership' for unmanned drones and vessels to conduct a range of missions from peace to war."

Meanwhile, Philippine Navy spokesman Captain Benjo Negranza told AFP the vessel shown in the false post is not one that is currently being manufactured locally as part of the country's programme to attain self-reliance in defence (archived links here and here).

"We have not released any information related to the video in the post," he added on May 26.

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