South Korean shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has launched the second batch of improved three King Sejong (KDX-III) class guided missile destroyers built for the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN).
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced on July 28 that the new KDX-III Batch II destroyer, the future ROKS King JeongjoLaunched at HHI’s Ulsan plant.
The ship has a displacement of approximately 8,300 tons, an overall length of 170 meters and a beam of 21 meters. According to DAPA, the Batch II ships will be equipped with an undisclosed Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system – believed to be the US-built Aegis Combat System – with improved anti-submarine warfare capabilities compared to the 7,600-ton Batch I ships .
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced earlier in October 2018 that Lockheed Martin was awarded a $365.7 million Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract to supply Baseline K2 for three next-generation RoKN guided-missile destroyers Version of the Aegis combat system. The United States subsequently approved a $313.9 million FMS contract with South Korea for the production of an additional batch of Raytheon Standard Missile-2 Medium-Range (SM-2MR) Block IIIB surface-to-air missiles.
South Korea has also expressed interest in Raytheon’s Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), which is expected to be budgeted between 2023 and 2031.
According to reports, the KDX-III Batch II destroyer will be equipped with up to 88 vertical launch system (VLS) cells, which will contain missiles made in the United States and South Korea. In addition to the aforementioned weapons, the ships will carry LIG Nex1 Haegung (Sea Bow) Korean Surface-to-Air Anti-Missile (K-SAAM), SSM-700K Haeseong (Sea Star) Surface-to-Surface Missile, and Hong Sang Eo (Red Shark) Korean Anti-Submarine Missile Rocket (K-ASROC) system.
HHI was awarded a $565 million contract from DAPA in October 2019 for the construction of Jeongjo Daewang, which is expected to be delivered to RoKN in November 2024. The KDX-III Batch II project is expected to cost about $3.3 billion.
by Jr Ng
