South Korea awards contract to upgrade 3 more Chang Bogo-class submarines

 

One of the upgraded Chang Bogo-class submarines after handing-over to ROKN in 2019. Photo c/o ROKN.


South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has been contracted to upgrade three (3) more Chang Bogo-class diesel-electric attack submarines of the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN). 

The contract, worth KRW165 billion (US$151 million), was signed with the South Korean Ministry of National Defense (MND) and was announced by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and reported on 11 December 2020.

No information was provided about the names of the submarines to be upgraded under this program, although all nine submarines of the class are expected to undergo upgrades.

Three submarines of the class, the ROKS Lee Eok Gi (SS-071), ROKS Na Dae Yong (SS-069), and ROKS Choi Moo Sun (SS-063) already underwent upgrade works under a KRW179 billion (US$164 million) program.

For the first batch of submarines, upgrade works included the installation of a new locally-made Combat Management System from Hanwha Systems to replace the outdated ATLAS ISUS-83 CMS; a new Towed Array Sonar, and improvements on the target detection and tracking capabilities.

This makes the upgraded submarines the first Type 209 submarines in the world to be equipped with a Towed Array Sonar, and was reported to have improved the submarine's Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and shallow water operations capabilities.

The second batch of submarines are expected to undergo similar works and improvements.

The Chang Bogo-class are based on the German Type 209/1200 diesel-electric submarines from Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW), specifically designed for the ROKN. The first unit was built in Germany, while succeeding units of the class were built by DSME starting in the early 1990s.

The submarines are 55.9 meters long and 6.2 meters wide, displaces at around 1,285 tons, and is equipped with eight 21-inch 533mm torpedo tubes. 



[1] Jane's
[2] Navy Recognition

South Korea awards contract to upgrade 3 more Chang Bogo-class submarines South Korea awards contract to upgrade 3 more Chang Bogo-class submarines Reviewed by Asia Pacific Defense Journal on December 27, 2020 Rating: 5

No comments