''Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin'' class destroyers (,

Hanja Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () ...

: 忠武公李舜臣級驅逐艦) are multipurpose

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

s of the

Republic of Korea Navy The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN; ), also known as the ROK Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, South Korean armed forces, responsible for naval and Amphibious warfare, amphibious operations. The South ...

. The lead ship of this class, ROKS ''Chungmugong Yi Sunsin'', was launched in May 2002 and commissioned in December 2003. ''Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin''-class destroyers were the second class of ships to be produced in the

's destroyer mass-production program named

Korean Destroyer eXperimental KDX (Korean Destroyer eXperimental) is a substantial shipbuilding program embarked on by the Republic of Korea Navy. It is a three-phased program consisting of three individual classes of ships: * KDX-I (3,800 tons), * KDX-II (5,500 tons), * A ...

, which paved the way for the navy to become a

blue-water navy A blue-water navy is a Navy, maritime force capable of operating globally, essentially across the deep waters of open oceans. While definitions of what actually constitutes such a force vary, there is a requirement for the ability to exercise Co ...

. Six ships were launched by

Hyundai Heavy Industries HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI; ) is the world's largest shipbuilding company and a major heavy equipment manufacturer. Its headquarters are in Ulsan, South Korea. History HHI was founded in 1972 by Chung Ju-yung as a division ...

and

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Hanwha Ocean Co., Ltd. (), formerly known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME; ), is one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea, along with Hyundai and Samsung. History On 21 February 2011, the A. P. Moller-Maersk ...

in four years.

Weapon systems

The ships have a 32-cell strike-length Mk 41 VLS for SM-2 Block IIIA area-air defence missiles, one 21-round

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

inner-layer defence missile launcher, one 30 mm

Goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

close-in weapon system, one Mk 45 Mod 4 127 mm gun, eight

Harpoon A harpoon is a long, spear-like projectile used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other hunting to shoot, kill, and capture large fish or marine mammals such as seals, sea cows, and whales. It impales the target and secures it with barb or ...

anti-ship missiles and two triple 324 mm anti-submarine torpedo tubes. The electronics suite includes one Raytheon

AN/SPS-49 The AN/SPS-49 is a United States Navy two-dimensional, long range air search radar built by Raytheon that can provide contact bearing and range. It is a primary air-search radar for numerous ships in the U.S. fleet and in Spanish Navy, Spain, Poli ...

(V)5 2D long-range radar (LRR), one

Thales Nederland Thales Nederland B.V. (formerly Hollandse Signaalapparaten B.V. or in short Signaal) is a subsidiary of the French multinational company Thales Group based in the Netherlands. The firm was founded as ''NV Hazemeyer's Fabriek van Signaalapparate ...

MW08 Thales Naval Nederland (formerly Signaal) MW08Waters, Conrad. Seaforth World Naval Review 2017, Naval Institute Press, 2016 is a G-band passive electronically scanned array target indication 3D radar, part of the 3D multibeam 'SMART' (Signal Mul ...

target indication

3D radar 3D radar provides for radar ranging and direction in three dimensions. In addition to range, the more common two-dimensional radar provides only azimuth for direction, whereas the 3D radar also provides elevation. Applications include weather rada ...

(TIR), two Thales Nederland STIR240

fire-control radar A fire-control radar (FCR) is a radar that is designed specifically to provide information (mainly target azimuth, elevation, range and range rate) to a fire-control system in order to direct weapons such that they hit a target. They are someti ...

s with OT-134A

Continuous Wave A continuous wave or continuous waveform (CW) is an electromagnetic wave of constant amplitude and frequency, typically a sine wave, that for mathematical analysis is considered to be of infinite duration. It may refer to e.g. a laser or particl ...

Illumination (CWI) transmitters, an SLQ-200(V)K SONATA electronic warfare system and a KDCOM-II combat management system (BAe SEMA SSCS Mk.7) which is derived from the Royal Navy

Type 23 frigate The Type 23 frigate or Duke class is a class of frigates built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The ships are named after British Dukes, thus leading to the class being commonly known as the Duke class. The first Type 23, , was commission ...

's SSCS combat management system using technology provided by

BAeSEMA BAESEMA was a naval technology joint venture between British Aerospace and the French Sema Group. The company was formed in 1991 and dissolved in November 1998 when BAe purchased SEMA's 50% share. BAESEMA acquired Dowty-Sema in 1992, another naval ...

, naval technology joint venture between

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft manufacturer, aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. ...

and the French

Sema Group Sema Group plc was an Anglo-French IT services company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was acquired by Schlumberger in 2001. History The company was founded in 1988 by the merger of th ...

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

WDS Mk 14 originally developed for the US Navy's

New Threat Upgrade New Threat Upgrade (NTU) was a United States Navy program to improve and modernize the capability of existing cruisers and destroyers equipped with Terrier and Tartar anti-aircraft systems, keeping them in service longer. The Program was sele ...

evaluates threats, prioritizes them, and engages them in order with SM-2. On the 4th unit, ROKS ''Wang Geon'', the 32-cell Mk 41 VLS is moved to the left and an indigenous VLS named

K-VLS The Korean vertical launching system (K-VLS or KVLS) is a hot-launch vertical launching system developed by South Korea to be deployed by the Republic of Korea Navy. It is used in the Sejong the Great-class destroyer, KSS-III submarine, and is s ...

is installed on the right. The ship's forward part is spacious enough to take a 56-cell Mk 41 VLS.

KDX-II Product Improvement Project

The KDX-II Product Improvement Project (PIP) is planned to address several deficiences. This includes obsolescence of foreign imported components such as the combat information system resulting in low availability and frequent unplanned shutdowns, and the limited performance of key systems such as

radar. On Jun 14, 2024, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) issued a bid announcement to start the selection of a shipyard for the KDX-II PIP. The project is scheduled to be completed by December 2033, with a budget of KRW 470 billion. The major statement of work is expected to include replacing the hull mouned sonar, towed array sonar system,

3D radar and the combat information system.

Design

The KDX-II is part of a much larger build up program aimed at turning the ROKN into a blue-water navy. It is said to be the first stealthy major combatant in the ROKN and was designed to significantly increase the ROKN's capabilities.

Ships in the class

Gallery

File:ROKS Munmu the Great (DDH 976).jpg, ROKS ''Munmu the Great'' (DDH-976) during RIMPAC 2006 File:RoK warship Dae Jo Yeong (DDG 977).jpg, ROKS ''Dae Jo Yeong'' (DDH-977) being guided into Naval Base San Diego File:ROKS Kang Gamchan steams by a line of ROK Navy ships during the International Fleet Review.jpg, ROKS ''Kang Gamchan'' (DDH-979) during International Fleet Review File:Choi Young (DDH-981) cropped.jpg, ROKS ''Choi Young'' (DDH-981) during joint exercise "Invincible Spirit"

Variants

KDX-IIA

KDX-IIA is a proposed variant of the KDX-II. It will be armed with the advanced Aegis Combat System and will have enhanced features of KDX-II such as stealth. The ship has been offered to the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

Arsenal ship

On August 14, 2019, the

Ministry of National Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divide ...

unveiled a five year defense plan between 2020 and 2024. The defense plan called for two new naval projects to be developed: the LPX-II-Class Aircraft Carrier and an

arsenal ship An arsenal ship is a concept for a floating missile platform intended to have as many as five hundred vertical launch bays for large-sized missiles, most likely cruise missiles. In current U.S. naval thinking, such a ship would initially be ...

. The design of the arsenal ship is said to be based on the KDX-II destroyer and is expected to be completed by the late 2020s.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chungmugong Yi Sun-Sin Class Destroyer Destroyer classes