Navy to Launch 2nd Aegis Destroyer
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The Navy will launch its second 7,600 ton-class KDX-III destroyer armed with the up-to-date Aegis air warfare system in November, the Navy announced Sunday.
The ship, named after Yi I, a prominent Korean Confucian scholar of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), will be launched from the Okpo shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering on Geoje Island, South Gyeongsang Province, it said.
The Aegis Combat System built by Lockheed Martin of the United States is the world's premier surface-to-air/fire-control system, capable of simultaneous operations against aircraft, ballistic and cruise missiles, ships and submarines.
Only a few countries such as the United States, Japan, Spain and Norway have Aegis warships.
The new Aegis destroyer will be operational by the end of 2010 after a year-long sea trial, a Navy spokesman said. The service is to commission one more Sejong the Great-class destroyer by 2012.
The Navy launched its first of three planned KDX Aegis destroyers, Sejong the Great, last year.
The KDX-III ship is the c
Aug 3, 2008