[12] The Ramon Alcaraz employs the shipboard application of aircraft gas turbine jet engines with the use of controllable pitch propellers.

She is equipped with two 18,000 horsepower (13,000 kW) Pratt & Whitney[2] gas turbines and can propel the ship at speeds up to 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph).

The Ramon Alcaraz also has two 3,500 horsepower (2,600 kW) Fairbanks-Morse[2] diesel engines, capable of driving the ship economically at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) for up to 12,500 nmi (23,200 km; 14,400 mi) without refueling.

Among those to be acquired are new Combat Management System (CMS), Hull Mounted Sonar (HMS), and a Radar Electronic Support Measures (R-ESM).

In 2020 October 14, Navy chief Giovanni Carlo Bacordo revealed the completion of the 3D modeling program for the entire ship class' cabling systems to be used for their electronic upgrades (CMS + 4 sensors), indicating the project is at least running despite the covid-19 pandemic.

[21] On 6 May 2012 during the 70th commemoration of the Fall of Bataan, President Benigno Aquino III announced the naming of the ex-USCGC Dallas to BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PF-16) in honor of the World War II hero and officer of the Philippine Navy.

Commodore Ramon "Monching" Alcaraz commanded one of the Philippine Offshore Patrol's Q-boat Q-112 Abra during World War II which shot down 3 Japanese aircraft.

[22] The ex-Dallas was formally transferred to the Philippine government on 22 May 2012 during a ceremony at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Pier Papa in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Ramon Alcaraz continued her journey across the Pacific Ocean and was scheduled for port visits at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam in Hawaii, and at Guam.

[40] The two naval ships arrived in Muscat, Oman on February 6 after a layover in Sri Lanka, but tensions in the Gulf region have already eased by that date and were told by Philippine Navy officials to stay put.

They picked up some 200,000 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPEs) donated by a Filipino donor who sources masks from India.

[42] On the evening of May 7, 2020, a fire broke out in the engine room of the BRP Ramon Alcaraz shortly after it left the port of Cochin, India.

Giovanni Bacordo, said the BRP Ramon Alcaraz underwent major checks and repairs from the fire damage since it arrived last June 12.

When the repairs were completed, the ship conducted sea trials from September 8 to 9, 2020 off the waters of Zambales according to Navy public affairs officer Lt. Cdr.