Fifth Daegu-class guided missile frigate for South Korea launched

 

Launching of frigate Daejeon (823). Photo c/o DSME.

South Korean naval shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) launched the fifth Daegu-class guided missile frigate ordered for the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN).

The ship, named Daejeon (823), was launched on 03 May 2021 at DSME’s Okpo shipyard, and will proceed to dockside fit-out works, with sea trials scheduled afterwards. The Daejeon is expected to be delivered to the ROKN by 2022. 

DSME received an order for four ships of the class, with the other four awarded to another South Korean shipyard, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).

The first two ships of the class built by DSME, the ROKS Daegu (FFG-818) and ROKS Gyeongnam (FFG-819), joined the ROKN on March 2018 and January 2021, respectively. The sixth ship of the class is also being built by DSME.

HHI has built the third and fourth ships, named Seoul (821) and Donghae (822), and were launched on November 2019 and April 2020, respectively.

The Daegu-class were built under the ROKN's FFX Batch II Program, are are improved versions of the Incheon-class frigates built under the FFX Batch I Program.

The frigates displaces at 3,650 tons full load, are 122 meters long and 14 meters wide, and are powered by four MTU 12V 4000 M53B diesel engines and a Rolls Royce MT30 gas turbine in Combined Diesel-Electric and Gas (CODLAG) configuration.

This hybrid propulsion system allows a maximum speed of 30 knots, and reduces underwater radiated noise which helps in anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations.

The frigates are also armed with a 127mm Mk. 45 Mod 4 naval gun, a 20mm Phalanx Block 1B close in weapon system, eight SSM-700K Haeseong anti-ship missiles and two triple torpedo tubes, and a 16-cell Korean Vertical Launching System (K-VLS) capable of firing the Korean Surface to Air Anti-Missile (K-SAAM) air defense missile, the Hong Sang Eo anti-submarine rocket, and the SSM-701K Haeryong land attack cruise missiles.

[1] Naval News

[2] Jane’s

[3] Asia Pacific Defense Journal