[Military Story] KDDX Construction Leads to the 'Daeyang Navy'

Navy's 66th Mobile Fleet Including 6 Destroyers and 6 Helicopters
Operating Light Aircraft Carrier from Late 2030s to Supplement Naval Power

Hanwha Ocean is showing confidence in this year's next-generation Korean Destroyer (KDDX, full load displacement 7,000 tons) project worth 7 trillion won. This is because its competitor, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (formerly Hyundai Heavy Industries), has been penalized for security breaches due to a technology leak incident. In the defense sector bidding, where outcomes are decided by decimal points, this is critical.

KDDX is equipped with the Close-In Weapon System CIWSⅡ. CIWS acts as the last line of defense if enemy missiles penetrate the defense shield formed by the ship's Surface-to-Air Anti-Missile (SAAM) system and naval guns.

If Hanwha Ocean builds the KDDX, naval power is expected to be significantly strengthened. The Navy plans to establish a mobile fleet along with the Sejong the Great-class Aegis destroyers (10,000 tons) and the Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class destroyers (5,500 tons). The mobile fleet consists of six destroyers, each carrying one helicopter, totaling six helicopters, and is also called the '66 Mobile Fleet.' The Navy aims to create three 66 Mobile Fleets with a total of 18 destroyers and operate a light aircraft carrier (30,000 tons class) as the flagship leading them from the late 2030s, advancing toward becoming an ocean-going navy.

The reason the Navy is establishing the mobile fleet is due to the naval power of neighboring countries. Not only China but also Japan advocates the '1,000 nautical mile full defense theory' and has declared its intention to deploy maritime forces up to 1,852 km away from the Japanese archipelago. Since the construction of four large Aegis destroyers of the Kong? class in 2000, Japan has even claimed '2,000 nautical mile full defense.'

Attention is also focused on the weapons and engines installed on the KDDX. A representative weapon is the Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) II, the Navy ship's last line of defense. CIWS acts as the final defense if enemy missiles penetrate the ship's anti-ship guided missile defense system (SAAM) and gun defenses. It is called the 'last bastion of the ship.' So far, the Navy has introduced and operated three types of CIWS: △ the short-range rotary missile RAM from Raytheon (USA), △ the 20mm Phalanx Gatling gun, and △ the 30mm Goalkeeper from Thales (Netherlands).

However, while the existing CIWS systems were sufficient to counter subsonic missiles, recently developed cruise missiles have become faster than Mach 2, requiring performance upgrades. Due to high maintenance costs, the need for domestic production has also been raised.

The propulsion system of the KDDX is also expected to be radically changed by abandoning the mechanical propulsion system used in existing ships. The candidate models are competing between foreign companies Rolls-Royce and GE (General Electric). Rolls-Royce proposes a hybrid electric propulsion system, while GE suggests an integrated electric propulsion system. The electric propulsion method is praised for producing less noise inside the ship compared to mechanical propulsion systems. It also has the advantage of simultaneously generating the electricity used on the ship. For this reason, it is considered most effective for combat ships that require large amounts of power for lasers, railguns, radar, and ship cooling.