Dec 26/08: Hyundai Heavy Industries signs a WON 140 billion (about $106.5 million) contract to build the lead ship of the South Korean Navy’s new FFX frigate class. It is not clear whether this is a complete contract, a contract for the ship minus “government furnished equipment” like weapons, or a partial award.
The new FFX frigates will have a full displacement of 3,200 tons full load, and measure about 114m by 14m wide. and a crew of 145-170, and will follow the modern pattern of stealthier ship designs with far better radars, sonars, and communications equipment. It will not, apparently, be a maximum radar stealth design, in order to keep the ships’ cost down
FFX ships’ use of improved modern sonars via a Thales/STX partnership has become a particular focus, as post-Cheonan assessments questioned whether the anti-submarine detection systems on earlier-model ships were adequate for the task. That will eventually be complemented by a towed sonar, and the current plan is to produce that towed array in Korea.
Firepower will also improve, with a 5 inch/ 127mm gun, RAM Mk 31 short-range missiles for killing aircraft and fast boats, and an embarked Westland Lynx helicopter. Early reports also had the ships carrying a 30mm Thales Nederland “Goalkeeper’’ system for last-ditch missile defense and small boat overkill, like other South Korean combat vessels. In the end, however, the FFX became the first Korean ship to carry Raytheon’s smaller and less structurally intrusive 20mm Phalanx Block 1B systems, which share commonalities with the RAM system. Anti-ship missiles and light torpedoes will also be carried, as is the case with the current Ulsan Class, but early reports suggest the ship will have to rely on fixed mounts, rather than vertical launchers.