Rolls Royce Engine to Power Korean FFX Batch III Frigates

The Rolls-Royce MT30 marine gas turbine has been selected for the Republic of Korea Navy’s (RoKN) new 3,500-ton FFX Batch III frigates, known as the Ulsan-class frigate which will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries.

Rolls-Royce has already worked with the RoKN to introduce a hybrid propulsion system arrangement for all eight ships in the Daegu-class FFX Batch II frigate programme – each powered by a single MT30 gas turbine and electric propulsion motors powered by four Rolls-Royce MTU diesel generators per ship.

The use of the MT30 across the Batch II and Batch III frigates will deliver commonality benefits to the customer, such as spare parts, support infrastructure and training.

For FFX Batch III, the Ulsan-class frigate programme, Rolls-Royce will also supply Engine Health Management (EHM) capability with its MT30 marine gas turbine. Supporting leaner naval forces, EHM technology delivers through-life benefits, such as reduced manpower and maintenance costs, by enabling the collection of reliable engine data and analysis to maximise asset availability and optimise on-board maintenance, the company announced.

South Korea is pushing to build a 6,000 ton-class Aegis destroyer under the Korea Destroyer Next Generation (KDDX) project, with Hyundai as a preferred bidder for the 21 billion won ($17.6 million) program.

The MT30 gas turbine is already in service with several navies around the globe including the U.S. Navy’s Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship and Zumwalt-class destroyers, the Republic of Korea’s Daegu-class frigates, the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and the Italian Navy’s new Landing Helicopter Dock. More recently MT30 has been selected to power the Japanese Maritime Defence Force’s advanced 30-FFM frigate and in single gas turbine CODLOG (Combined Diesel Electric or Gas) configuration for the Type 26 Global Combat Ship programmes for the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy and Royal Canadian Navy.

Beyond the FFX programme, the power density of the proven naval MT30 gas turbine genset is also one of the key enablers for Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP) for the next - generation RoKN destroyer (KDDX).