The South Korean corporation Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) on October 5, 2021 at its shipyard in Ulsan made an official ceremony of laying and installing the first section of the head of three large "Aegis" destroyers of the KDX-III project of the second series (Batch-II) ordered for the South Korean Navy. The actual construction of this destroyer was started with the ceremony of the first steel cutting in Ulsan on February 16, 2021. The ship should be launched in the second half of 2022 and handed over to the South Korean navy by November 2024.
The laying ceremony at the shipbuilding enterprise of the South Korean corporation Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) in Ulsan of the head of the three destroyers of the KDX-III project of the second series (Batch-II) ordered for the South Korean Navy, 05.10.2021 (c) Hyundai Heavy Industries
A framework contract for the construction of three DDX-III ships of the second series was received by HHI in October 2019, including a firm contract worth 676.6 billion won ($565 million) for the technical design and construction of the lead ship. The commissioning of three contracted ships is planned for 2024, 2026 and 2028.
Previously, three KDX-III (KD-III) destroyers of the first batch (Batch-I) type Sejong the Great, equipped with the American AEGIS integrated weapon system, were built for the South Korean Navy, commissioned in 2008-2012. Two of them (DDG 991 Sejong the Great and DDG 993 Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong) were built by HHI at the Ulsan shipyard, and the third (DDG 992 Yulgok Yi I) was built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Corporation (DSME) in Okpo.
The project ships DDX-III first series were developed on the basis of the project of the American type destroyers Arleigh Burke, differing from the latter increased dimensions (maximum length 165,9 m vs 155 m) and a displacement (unladen 7650 tons and tons full 10600 Korean ship against approximately 7,100 tons empty and 9,500 tons full displacement type Arleigh Burke Flight IIA series). This made the South Korean destroyers of the DDX-III project the world's largest ships equipped with the AEGIS system, and the most powerfully armed - the ships of the DDX-III project of the first series carry 128 vertical missile launchers.
In turn, now the ships of the KDX-III project of the second series (Batch-II) will have even more increased dimensions, - according to official HHI data, with an empty displacement of 8,100 tons and a maximum length of 170 m. It is reported that the KDX-III ships of the second series will be distinguished by the installation of a modified AEGIS weapon system of the Baseline 9 standard (the AEGIS Baseline 7.1 system is installed on the first series), which will provide a solution to missile defense tasks. Also, the destroyers of the second series will be equipped with a promising South Korean-designed ISS sonar system, which, as stated, "will dramatically increase the anti-submarine capabilities of the ships."
The design appearance of the South Korean destroyer of the KDX-III project of the second series (Batch-II) (c) Hyundai Heavy Industries
