On December 18, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) of South Korea announced that the country's Navy has received its first 3,600-ton frigate with enhanced anti-submarine and air defense capabilities.
 |
| The launching ceremony of the 3,600-ton destroyer ROKS Chungnam was held at the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan on April 10. (Source: Yonhap) |
According to DAPA, the ceremony marking the handover of the ROKS Chungnam took place at the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan, about 310 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
The 129-meter-long ship is equipped with 127mm guns and vertical launch systems, as well as anti-ship guided missiles, tactical anti-surface guided missiles and long-range anti-submarine torpedoes, Yonhap news agency reported.
ROKS Chungnam is equipped with domestic equipment, including a "multi-function phased array radar" system capable of detecting and tracking multiple targets from "all directions."
It is the first of six ships to be built under Seoul’s frigate acquisition project, which aims to build 3,600-ton destroyers to replace aging destroyers and frigates. The new destroyer is expected to be deployed after a six-month training period.
South Korea often names its destroyers after provinces and cities in the country. Chungnam is the name of a southern province in the Northeast Asian country. The Navy has named warships Chungnam twice before, including a destroyer that was decommissioned in 2017.
Previously, on December 17, DAPA also launched a program to produce medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (MUAVs) at an inauguration ceremony for an assembly facility in Busan, aiming to help enhance the military's ability to monitor North Korea.
This surveillance aircraft is capable of operating at an altitude of 10-12 km and taking high-resolution images from a distance of more than 100 km. This type of device is 13 meters long, 3 meters high and has a wingspan of 25 meters.
The drones produced by Korea’s largest airline, Korean Air, will not only enhance the military’s surveillance capabilities but also establish a domestic production system for drones, DAPA said. DAPA plans to begin delivering the drones to the Air Force in 2027.
In addition, the South Korean government has approved a 4.56 trillion won (over $3.1 billion) project to enhance the mission capabilities and survivability of the F-15K jet by upgrading key avionics equipment through 2037. The amount is larger than the 3.46 trillion won allocated at the end of 2022.
DAPA plans to replace the current F-15K's aging radar system with an advanced active electronically scanned array radar, expand the memory size of the mission computer, and upgrade the jet's electronic warfare system to a fully automated system.
Among the projects recently approved by South Korea are a 661.5 billion won project to develop domestically produced short-range air-to-air missiles to be mounted on KF-21 fighter jets and an 807.6 billion won project to upgrade six 1,800-ton submarines.
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/han-quoc-nang-cap-manh-quan-doi-lan-dau-don-khinh-ham-3600-tan-chi-hang-ty-usd-cho-phi-doi-chien-dau-co-297826.html
Comment (0)