With KDDX, South Korea launches its 3rd new generation destroyer program

At the turn of the 2000s, the South Korean naval forces were mainly made up of coastal protection ships, such as the 2.200-ton Ulsan-class frigates or the Gangwon-class destroyers, American 3500-ton Gearing-class destroyers intended for anti-submarine warfare and anti-ship warfare. Since then, the profile of these naval forces has changed profoundly, with the entry into service large destroyers like the Sejong the Great class ships among the most imposing (10.600 tons in load) and the best armed (128 vertical silos) on the planet, but also the 3.600 ton frigates of the Daegu class, as well as Dosan Anh Changho anaerobic-powered submarines of 3.750 tons armed in particular with 6 VLS tubes for cruise and ballistic missiles.

This effort was built around several major programs, KDX for destroyers, FFG for frigates, KSS for submarines and LPX for attack helicopter carriers. In 2030, this navy will align 18 attack submarines with 9 KSS-II Son Won-il (Type 214 under license) and 9 KSS-III Dosan Anh Changho, 20 frigates including 6 of the Incheon class, 8 of the Daegu and 6 anti-aircraft frigates of the FFG-iii program, as well as 18 destroyers with 6 KDX-I Chungmugong Yi Sushin class of 6.400 tons, 6 KDX-II AEGIS of the Sejong the Great class (divided into 2 Batches of 3 ships) , and 6 destroyers of the KDDX program.

It is precisely this last program that has just been officially launched by Seoul, with the objective of launching one ship per year between 2025 and 2030. Many mysteries still surround this new program, the exact configuration of which is still the subject of discussion. fierce competition between the country's two main shipyards, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Engineerings. However, public information gleaned by specialized journalists, we learn that this new class of destroyers will be more compact than the large destroyers of the Sejong the Great class, with a length of 156 meters and a displacement of the order of 8000 tons. Above all, unlike previous destroyers, the KDDXs will only rely on South Korean technologies, both in the field of detection and armament, for example ignoring the American radar SPY-1 or SPY- 6, but also on the Mk41 vertical launch systems and the SM2 and SM3 missiles, turning to local systems such as the KVLS vertical launch system and locally designed missiles.

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