Incheon-class frigate

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The Incheon-class frigates (Hangul: 인천급 호위함, Hanja: 仁川級護衛艦), also known as the Future Frigate eXperimental or FFX during development, are coastal defense frigates of the Republic of Korea Navy. The lead ship was launched on 29 April 2011. The Incheon-class frigates will replace the aging fleet of Pohang-class corvettes and Ulsan-class frigates, and take over multi-role operations such as coast patrol, anti-submarine warfare and transport support. Later batches are planned to be specialized on anti-air and anti-submarine warfare. An improved version is being introduced as the Daegu-class frigate; this was previously known as Batch II of the Incheon class.

Incheon-class frigate
Class overview
NameIncheon class
Builders
Operators Republic of Korea Navy
Preceded by
Succeeded byDaegu class
SubclassesJose Rizal class
In commission2012–present
Planned6
Completed6
Active6
General characteristics
TypeGuided-missile frigate
Displacement
  • 2,500 t (2,500 long tons) (empty)
  • 3,300 t (3,200 long tons) (full load)[1]
Length114 m (374 ft 0 in)
Beam14 m (45 ft 11 in)
Draft4 m (13 ft 1 in)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) (max)
  • 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) (cruising)
Range4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi)
Complement140
Sensors and
processing systems
Electronic warfare
& decoys
  • LIG Nex1 SLQ-200(V)K Sonata electronic warfare suite
  • SLQ-261K torpedo acoustic counter measures
  • KDAGAIE Mk 2 decoy launchers
Armament
Aircraft carriedSuper Lynx or AW159 helicopter
Aviation facilitiesFlight deck and enclosed hangar for one medium-lift helicopter

Development

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A voyage of Daegu and Incheon-class frigates

In the early 1990s, the Korean government plan for the construction of next generation coastal ships named "Frigate 2000" was scrapped due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. But the decommissioning of the Gearing-class destroyers and the aging fleet of Ulsan-class frigates, the plan was revived as the Future Frigate eXperimental, also known as FFX in the early 2000s.

The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) initially wanted twenty-four 3,000 ton frigates to replace the Ulsan-, Pohang- and Donghae-class coastal fleet of 37 ships. It was later decided that six 2,700 ton ships will be constructed for the first batch. In 2008, the plan was further downgraded to 2,300 tons when president Lee Myung-bak took office, with the number of ships for the first batch down to six. Eight ships are planned for the second batch of FFX with the final goal of 20–22 frigates.[2]

In 2010 the construction of the first FFX frigate was awarded to Hyundai Heavy Industry and in April 2011 the first of its class, ROKS Incheon was launched. The ship is named after the western port city of Incheon, representing the ROKN's initiative to defend the western islands due to the constant clashes with the North Korean navy in this area.

Armament

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The Incheon-class frigate's main gun is the 127 mm/L62 Mk. 45 Mod 4 naval gun.[3] This was chosen over a smaller 76 mm for naval barrage support in amphibious landings and superiority in ship to ship firing.[4] Point-defense armaments include a single 20 mm Phalanx CIWS and a RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile Block 1 21-round launcher. The anti-submarine warfare armaments consists of K745 LW Cheong Sahng-uh (Blue Shark) torpedoes.

Anti-ship capability is provided by SSM-700K Haeseong (Sea Star) long-range anti-ship missiles, each with performance similar to the American Harpoon. Land-attack capability is provided by the recently developed Tactical Ship to Land attack missile, which is derived from the SSM-700K Haeseong; initially, the land attack missiles were planned to start arming batch 2 Incheon-class ships, but feasibility studies showed they could be retrofitted to batch 1 ships, which began in September 2016, enhancing their flexibility and deterrence capabilities with 150–200 km (93–124 mi)-range tactical missiles.[5]

Ships in the class

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Name Pennant number Builder Launched Commissioned Status
ROKS Incheon FFG-811 Hyundai Heavy Industries 29 April 2011 17 January 2013[6] Active
ROKS Gyeonggi FFG-812 Hyundai Heavy Industries 18 July 2013 4 November 2014 Active
ROKS Jeonbuk FFG-813 Hyundai Heavy Industries 13 November 2013[7] 5 January 2015 Active
ROKS Gangwon FFG-815 STX Offshore & Shipbuilding 12 August 2014 November 2015 Active
ROKS Chungbuk FFG-816 STX Offshore & Shipbuilding 23 October 2014 26 January 2016 Active
ROKS Gwangju FFG-817 STX Offshore & Shipbuilding 11 August 2015[8] 9 November 2016 Active

Export market

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A variant of the Incheon class was offered by Hyundai Heavy Industries to the Philippines' Department of National Defense for their requirement of two new frigates.[9] On 24 October 2016, the contract to supply two brand new general purpose stealth frigates was signed between the Department of National Defense, represented by Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana, and Hyundai Heavy Industries, represented by its Senior Vice President Mr. Ki Sun Chung, under the presence of officials from the DND, AFP, PN, HHI, and the South Korean Ambassador to the Philippines.[10]

In November 2012, it was reported that Israel was mulling a deal to purchase four Incheon-class frigates from South Korea, which would be built jointly by Hyundai Heavy Industries and Israel Shipyards.[citation needed]

See also

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Daegu-class frigate

References

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  1. ^ a b Tomohiko Tada (August 2013). "13. Incheon class FF / South Korea". Ships of the World (782): 102–103.
  2. ^ "Rolls-Royce to supply MT30 Gas Turbines to next three Korean Daegu-class frigates". www.rolls-royce.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  3. ^ "Brand-new - naval ships built in 2013". Naval-technology.com. 2014-08-26.
  4. ^ "해군 차기호위함 '인천함', 29일 울산서 진수". 세계일보. Segye Ilbo. 2011-04-29.
  5. ^ S. Korean Navy to arm frigates with tactical ship-to-land missiles - Koreatimes.co.kr, 21 August 2016
  6. ^ "Republic of Korea Navy commissions First of Class "Incheon" FFX I Frigate". Navy Recognition. 2013-01-18. Archived from the original on 2013-03-01. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
  7. ^ "Hyundai Heavy Industries launched the 3rd Incheon class frigate ROKS Jeonbuk". November 14, 2013.
  8. ^ "Navy launches new frigate Gwangju, 6th in next-generation fleet project". 11 August 2015.
  9. ^ "South Korean defense manufacturer signifies interest to provide DND's frigate requirements". Philippine News Agency. 2013-03-02. Archived from the original on 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
  10. ^ "Philippine Navy's first ever state-of-the-art frigate launched in South Korea" (PDF) (Press release). The Philippines Department of National Defense. 24 May 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-07-15.
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