50 Warships on Display at Int’l Fleet Review in Busan
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
A fleet of over 50 warships from the South Korean Navy and 12 other nations will be on display Tuesday during the 2008 International Fleet Review in the waters off Busan, a government official said Monday.
The naval festival opened Sunday for a five-day run to commemorate the 60th founding anniversary of the nation's armed forces.
About 3,000 people, including domestic and foreign dignitaries, are to attend the event to witness the massive gathering of advanced naval vessels and aircraft from around the world, while some 600 selected citizens will watch the festivity as ``citizen observers'' onboard the 14,000-ton Dokdo-class large-deck landing ship, according to the Navy.
The Navy's first 7,600-ton KDX-III Aegis-equipped destroyer, Sejong the Great, will be showcased, along with 30 other naval vessels, to the public for the first time since its launch in May last year, it said in a news release.
The Aegis Combat System built by Lockheed Martin of the U.S. is the world's premier surface-to-air/fire-control system, capable of simultaneous operations against aircraft, ballistic and cruise missiles, ships and submarines.
The ship's SPY-1D radar can track some 1,000 aircraft within a 500-kilomete radius simultaneously, providing full-360 degree coverage.
Only a few countries such as the United States, Japan, Spain and Norway have Aegis ships.
``The fleet review will offer an opportunity for the South Korean Navy to open a new era with Aegis destroyers and promote its increasing strength and global status matching those of naval powers around the world,'' said Capt. Han Chang-soo, chief of the fleet review organization committee.
Among the high-profile foreign warships is the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, the destroyer Suzunami (DD-114) from Japan and the Russian Navy's guided missile cruiser Varyag (CG-011), according to the Navy.
The fleet review is a naval event in which the head of state reviews the country's fleet before a war or for a simple show of strength. The review is a British naval tradition dating back more than 600 years. This review went with the modern trend of inviting foreign warships.
On the sidelines of the fleet review, a seminar for naval chiefs and representatives from 24 nations will take place at the Paradise Hotel Wednesday.
The Navy's Operations Command is scheduled to invite citizens and open domestic and foreign naval ships to them Wednesday and Thursday.