By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
ULSAN _ The South Korean Navy launched its first 7,600-ton Aegis destroyer Friday, taking a big step toward developing a blue-water naval force.
Aegis, which means shield, is the U.S.-developed most modern radar and combat system capable of conducting simultaneous warfare on several fronts _ air, surface, subsurface and strike.
Only four other countries in the world _ the United States, Japan, Spain and Norway _ have Aegis warships.
The high-tech KDX-III Aegis ship, the core part of the Korean Navy’s pursuit of a ``strategic mobile fleet,’’ is expected to enable South Korea to project force farther from home as well as defend South Korea from external missile threats.
The ship was named after Sejong the Great of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) who created the Korean alphabet ``hangul.’’
``The launch of an Aegis destroyer is a stepping stone for the South Korean Navy to cruise toward building a blue-water naval force with greater mobility and operational range,’’ Capt. Jung Sung-yup, chief of the Navy’s public affairs office, told The Korea Times.
``Securing a fleet of Aegis ships means we have secured the power to protect our people and maritime interests, and cope with regional threats effectively,’’ Jung said, citing ongoing territorial disputes in the region including the Seoul-Tokyo tension over the sovereignty of South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo.
The strategic mobile fleet of KDX-III Aegis ships, KDX-II stealth destroyers, submarines, anti-submarine aircraft, large-deck landing ships and FFX frigates will enable the Navy to carry out independent and joint naval operations with its allies for purposes such as securing sea lanes for energy supplies and peacekeeping, he added.
A commissioning ceremony was held at a shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries, with the attendance of hundreds of guests including President Roh Moo-hyun, First Lady Kwon Yang-suk, Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Song Young-moo.
Sejong the Great will be operational with the Navy next year after sea trials. Two more KDX-III ships will be commissioned in 2010 ad 2012, Navy officials said.
The ship is said to feature the most powerful radar and attack capabilities that other Aegis ships such as Japan’s newest Atago-class Aegis vessel, which was deployed last March.
The SPY-1D Radar is capable of tracking and destroying incoming ballistic missiles, as well as detecting and tracking 900 aircraft within a 500-kilometer radius simultaneously, Navy officials said.
The ship can carry a total of 128 sophisticated missiles in its MK41 Vertical Launch System and Korea Vertical Launch System.
Missile systems to be mounted on the ship include ship-to-air SM-2 Block IIIA/B Tactical Standard missiles, built by Raytheon Systems, with a range of 170 kilometers; Chonryong (sky dragon) ship-to-surface cruise missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometers; and Hongsango (red shark) long-range ship-to-submarine missiles with a target range of 19 kilometers.
Other armaments include RAM MK-31 guided missiles and a 30-mm ``Goalkeeper’’ system for engaging incoming sea-skimming SSMs and the 5/62-Caliber MK 45 Mod 4 lightweight gun.
The ship can carry 300 crewmembers and is able to cruise at a maximum speed of 39 knots with a cruising range of 10,000 kilometers. Its per-unit price is $1 billion.
The Navy initiated a three-phase KDX (Korean Destroyer Experimental) shipbuilding project in 1986 and has three 3,800-ton destroyers and six 5,000-ton KDX-II destroyers fitted with radar-evading technology.
In 2005, the Navy commissioned a 14,000-ton amphibious large-deck landing vessel named after the Dokdo islets with an initial operational capability from July of this year under the Landing Platform Experimental project.