ROKS ''Marado'' (LPH-6112) is the second ship of the 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 ...

Differences with ROKS ''Dokdo''

''Marado'' was built with some changes compared to the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...

. The flight deck is adapted to accommodate two

V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-use, tiltrotor military transport aircraft, military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed ...

s, while ''Dokdo'' was able to only carry one. In place of the Thales SMART-L multibeam radar and MW08 surveillance radar, ''Marado'' uses the Elta Systems

EL/M-2248 MF-STAR The EL/M-2248 MF-STAR is a GaN based multifunction active electronically scanned array naval radar system developed by IAI Elta for maritime installation on warships. It is capable of tracking both air and surface targets and providing fire co ...

multifunction surveillance radar and

LIG Nex1 LIG Nex1 Co., Ltd. (), formerly known as LG Innotek () is a South Korean aerospace manufacturer and arms manufacturer. It was established in 1976 as Goldstar Precision. LIG Nex1 was previously owned by LIG Holdings Company, which in turn was ow ...

SPS-550K The AN/SPS-55 is a solid state surface search and navigation radar. It was developed by Cardion Electronics for the U.S. Navy under a contract awarded in 1971. It was originally developed for a class of ships known as Patrol Frigates, but it was ...

3-D air and surface surveillance radar. She also has a different weapons suite than the 30 mm Goalkeeper and RAM, instead using two 20 mm

Phalanx CIWS The Phalanx CIWS () is an automated gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Co ...

and having a

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 ...

at the rear of the superstructure for the locally developed

K-SAAM The K-SAAM (Korean Surface-to-Anti Air Missile; ) is a South Korean short range ship-launched surface-to-air missile (SAM) system that is being developed by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), LIG Nex1 and Hanhwa Defense. It features inert ...

Construction and career

The ''Marado'' was launched on 14 May 2018 at the shipyard of

Hanjin The Hanjin Group () is a South Korean chaebol. The group has various industries covered from transportation and airlines to hotels, tourism, and airport businesses, and is one of the largest chaebols in Korea. The group includes Korean Air (KA ...

Heavy Industries & Constructions Co. in

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

. The Marado was commissioned on 28 June 2021 and is based at the Jinhae Naval Base. ''Marado'' was originally planned to enter service 2010. But due to the

economic crisis of 2008 The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

the second ship of the was cancelled. In 2012 the budget was restored after the rise of tensions in the region. Construction started in November 2016 with the first steel being cut. The keel was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

in April the following year and the

launch Launch or launched may refer to: Involving vehicles * Launch (boat), one of several different sorts of boat ** Motor launch (naval), a small military vessel used by the Royal Navy * Air launch, the practice of dropping an aircraft, rocket, or ...

occurring another year later. The following two years consisted of

fitting-out Fitting out, or outfitting, is the process in shipbuilding that follows the float-out/launching of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her o ...

and going through

sea trial A sea trial or trial trip is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on op ...

s. The ship was commissioned on 28 June 2021 . In May 2022, the ROKN announced that the ''Marado'' and the Sohn Won-yil-class submarine, ROKS ''Shin Dol-seok SS-082'', will take part in the RIMPAC 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marado Dokdo-class amphibious assault ships 2018 ships Ships built by Hanjin Heavy Industries

Differences with ROKS ''Dokdo''

Construction and career

See also

References