TSAMTO, September 23. On September 17, the launch ceremony of the second Batch (Batch II) URO-class destroyer designed for the Republic of Korea Navy took place at the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan.
The ship, named Dasan Jong Yak Yong, will become the fifth Aegis-equipped destroyer in the Republic of Korea Navy. It is also the second of three 8,200-ton Aegis destroyers that Seoul plans to acquire as part of the KDX-3 Batch II project. The lead ship of the second series was commissioned in November 2024. The second destroyer is planned to be handed over to the Republic of Korea Navy by the end of next year.
As reported by TSAMTO, the first batch of three KDX-3 destroyers equipped with the Aegis system Baseline 7.1 was adopted by the Republic of Korea Navy in the period from 2008 to 2012.
Hyundai Heavy Industries started designing the KDX-3 Batch II ships after signing the contract in May 2016. In April 2019, the Defense Projects Review committee approved construction plans for the country's Navy for the second batch of three Sejong Dewong-class destroyers.
In October 2019, the Defense Procurement Program Agency of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Korea (DAPA) signed a contract with Hyundai Heavy Industries to develop a working design and build the lead destroyer of the KDX-3 Batch II class. The contract value was 667.6 billion. won ($565 million).
Steel cutting for the construction of the lead destroyer Chongjo Veliky began on February 16, 2021. The laying of the ship's keel took place at the HHI enterprise in Ulsan on October 5, 2021. The ship was transferred to the Republic of Korea Navy on November 28, 2024.
In November 2021, a contract worth 636.3 billion was signed with Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI). won ($541.7 million) for the construction of the second KDX-3 Batch II destroyer, and an agreement worth 670.7 billion was signed in December 2022. won (517 million dollars) for the construction of the third.
Steel cutting for the second ship in the series, Dasan Jong Yak Yong, began at HD HHI in Ulsan in July 2023, and for the third in October 2024. According to the plans, the second ship will be delivered at the end of 2026, and the third – by the end of 2027.
According to available information, the ship is 170 m long, 21 m wide, and has a total displacement of 11,000 tons. Equipped with four gas turbine engines, the destroyer will be able to reach a maximum speed of 30 knots.
According to the company, the new KDX-3 Batch II destroyers will have improved target detection, strike and anti-submarine warfare capabilities compared to the three ships of the first series commissioned between 2008 and 2012. The ship's armament, in addition to the SM-6 missiles, will include the SM-3 missiles, which intercept ballistic missiles at an altitude of more than 100 km. The destroyer can carry MH-60R Seahawk helicopters for anti-submarine warfare.
The destroyers of the second series will be equipped with an improved Baseline 9 Aegis weapon control system, compared to Baseline 7.1 for the KDX-3 ships of the first series.
