S.Korea Launches Navy’s First Chungnam-Class 3600-ton Frigate

The first of six 3600-ton frigates, the Chungnam (FFG-828), built for the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy, was launched at Hyundai Heavy Industries’ (HHI) facility in Ulsan.

Currently, ROK Navy operates six FFX Batch I (Incheon-class) and six FFX Batch II (Daegu-class) frigates, with two more of Batch II to be commissioned. The third batch of FFX, named after the coastal province of Chungcheongnam-do will be jointly produced by HHI and SK Oceanplant. A total of six FFX Batch III frigates will be produced and commissioned between 2023 and 2027.

As of now, only the first (ROKS Chungnam) of FFX Batch III will be produced by HHI, as SK Oceanplant won the contract to build three ships in October 2022. However, it is not known which shipbuilder would win the contract for the last two ships.

The warship launched on Monday is fitted with a domestically developed complex sensor mast (ISM), 4-side fixed multi-function phased array radar (MFR), and infrared detection and tracking equipment.

The Chungnam ship is the first ship of the Ulsan-class Batch-III, which replaces old frigates and patrol combat corvettes.

The Navy's first 3,600-ton frigate, Chungnam, is 129m long, 14.8m wide, and 38.9m high. The ship’s detection equipment, armament including the battle system, are all domestically produced.

This battleship is equipped with a multifunctional phased array radar (MFR). The radar is a four-sided fixed-type phased array radar like the Easy Radar, and it is capable of detecting and tracking omnidirectional anti-aircraft and anti-ship targets and responding to multiple anti-aircraft targets simultaneously. Existing Batch-I (Incheon-class) and Batch-II (Daegu-class) escort ships operate rotational detection radar and tracking radar separately.

In addition, the mast of the ship Chungnam applied the Integrated Sensor Mast (ISM) method that integrates advanced science and technology. The complex sensor mast includes a four-sided fixed multi-function phased array radar and infrared detection and tracking equipment, and has a stealth design.

The propulsion system of ROKS Chungnam minimizes underwater radiated noise by applying the same hybrid propulsion system method as Batch-II (Daegu-class), and operates hull-fixed sonar and towing type sonar (TASS) developed with domestic technology to provide anti-submarine capabilities.

The Chungnam ship will go through a test evaluation period and be delivered to the Navy at the end of December 2024, after which it will be operationally deployed through a power-up process.