Acquisition of Performance Upgrade Project for 18 Guided Missile Fast Attack Craft
Reaffirmed Capabilities... Momentum Gained for Entry into Overseas MRO Market
HJ Heavy Industries (CEO Yu Sang-cheol) has won a contract worth 124.7 billion KRW from the Defense Acquisition Program Administration to develop a performance improvement system for 18 guided missile patrol killer guided-missiles (PKG) of the Navy.
The performance and operational capabilities of the guided missile patrol killer, the frontline force of the naval fleet, are expected to be significantly enhanced.
Building on its accumulated technological expertise and project execution capabilities, HJ Heavy Industries is preparing to enter the U.S. MRO (Maintenance Repair Overhaul) market. The company’s MRO business is also expected to gain momentum following President Trump's remarks on cooperation with the Korean shipbuilding industry.
The guided missile patrol killer (PKG: Patrol Killer Guided-missile) refers to the Navy’s 440-ton class high-speed combat ships (PKX-A) built to replace aging high-speed boats. HJ Heavy Industries was responsible for constructing eight ships, including the first ship, ROKS Yoon Young-ha, in 2008, and a total of 18 ships were commissioned by 2018.
Equipped with domestically produced combat systems, hull fireproof bulkheads, stealth technology, and waterjet propulsion, the PKG has dramatically improved firepower, maneuverability, and survivability compared to the existing Chamsuri-class high-speed boats. Since deployment, it has served as a genuine next-generation high-speed ship with capabilities in anti-ship warfare, anti-air warfare, and electronic warfare.
However, due to performance degradation from aging and discontinued parts, the need to replace combat systems and equipment has been raised. Accordingly, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the Navy have promoted a performance improvement project aimed at upgrading outdated equipment with the latest domestic systems to enhance combat performance for effective mission execution.
HJ Heavy Industries, with its unparalleled technology and experience in high-speed vessels, will undertake the performance improvement project not only for the eight ships it directly built but also for all 18 guided missile patrol killers of the Navy. This reinforces its reputation as a defense company capable of flawlessly executing everything from ship design and construction to maintenance and performance upgrades. The company also secured the performance improvement project for the Dokdo-class, Korea’s first large transport ship, in 2022.
An HJ Heavy Industries official stated, “As Korea’s first defense industry company established in 1974, we have provided total solutions to contracting agencies, including new construction, maintenance, performance upgrades, and combat equipment manufacturing for state-of-the-art ships, based on over 50 years of accumulated technology and know-how. We will further enhance our competitiveness as a marine defense industry company by leveraging this high-speed ship performance improvement project, which will continue until 2030, and by pioneering the overseas MRO market, regarded as a future growth engine for the special ship business.”
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