HHI announced the start of construction of the second KDX III type destroyer of the second batch (Batch II) of the "Sejong the Great" class ships. The Republic of Korea (ROK) will build three KDX III Batch II destroyers by 2028. The three KDX III Batch II destroyers will add to the same number of first batch destroyers, which entered service in 2008, 2010 and 2012, respectively. Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) will construct the destroyer.
The 'Sejong the Great' have a displacement of 8,500 tons or 11,000 tons fully loaded, a length of 166 meters, a beam of 21.4 meters and a draft of 6.25 meters. They require a crew of 300. They incorporate a Combined Gas and Gas (COGAG) propulsion system with four General Electric LM-2500 engines with a total power of 100,000 hp. Their maximum speed exceeds 30 knots (56 kilometres per hour), while their range is 5,500 nautical miles (10,186 kilometres) with a cruising speed of 20 knots (37 kilometres per hour).
Their electronic equipment consists of AN/SPY-1D(V) multi-function radar, AN/SPG-62 fire control radar, DSQS-21BZ-M towed sonar, SQR-220K towed sonar and infrared search and target detection system, which is called Infrared Search & Track (IRST ). It also incorporates the domestically designed and developed SLQ-200K Sonata integrated electronic warfare system.
Their armament consists of one Mk.45 Mod.4 127mm cannon, one Goalkeeper-type CIWS and one RAM, 16 SSM-700K Haeseong anti-ship missiles with a maximum range of 200 km, two triple K-745 Blue Shark maximum-range torpedo launchers 19 km, 80 Mk.41 VLS vertical launch cells for SM-2 Block.3B and Block.4 missiles and 48 K-VLS vertical launch cells for K-ASROC anti-submarine rockets and/or Hyunmoo-3 ground attack missiles with a maximum range of 500 -1,500 depending on the version.
