Hanwha and Hyundai to Square-Off to Build Korea’s First Domestic Destroyer

South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Promotion Committee has resolved to hold a head-to-head competition between Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries for the country’s first domestically-produced destroyer. It selected the process after more than two years of discussion, and after elements of corporate espionage threatened to derail the whole project.

The project dates back more than a decade to inception in 2011, which called for South Korea to leverage its domestic expertise in shipbuilding and electronic warfare systems to build its first entirely domestically produced destroyers. South Korea, while building its own Aegis-class vessels, has been dependent on U.S. weapon systems and equipment. The government challenged the shipbuilders to develop designs for a truly Korean, next—generation destroyer.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) produced the first concept designs in 2012, and the government advanced the project in 2020, calling for design concepts. Hyundai Heavy Industries produced a design, but it later came out that some of its employees had illegally obtained confidential materials, including concept design data. Three years later, in 2023, a court confirmed the violations, which had led to two years of debate by the Committee and government over how to proceed.

The original concept called for the construction of six 6,000-ton displacement destroyers. The key stipulation is to develop advanced capabilities and critically build the key systems in Korea. The ships are seen as critical to the future of South Korea’s Navy as its older Gwanggaeto class is expected to be decommissioned between 2028 and 2032.

At the end of 2023, Hyundai said that after 36 months since it received the contract for a concept design, it had completed the basic design for its vessel. It is calling for a 6,500-ton destroyer. The company highlighted its design for a fully electric propulsion system, which it said would feature a world-first, ultra-large 25MW propulsion motor. They called for a cutting-edge level of automation and electrification, powered by the massive power plant. They are proposing automated ammunition transport facilities, a smart bridge, advanced navigation assistance systems, and a design based on autonomous navigation technology.

Hanwha Ocean, which acquired DSME, has also proposed a fully-electric propulsion ship, noting that it would reduce noise and vibration, making the vessels more difficult for submarines to track. The hull would be a stealth design that minimizes laser reflection, noise, and heat, and it would have an integrated mast that includes sensors such as radar and electronic equipment with a phased array radar, infrared detection, and tracking equipment.

Hanwha Ocean also expanded on the original KDDX vessel concept to propose a 7,000-ton displacement smart design. They have proposed incorporating anti-drone and laser weapon systems.

The Defense Acquisition Program Promotion Committee broke its two-year deadlock by agreeing to launch a “nominated competition” between the two shipbuilders for the contract for detailed design that will lead to ship construction. According to media reports, they expect to finalize the contract by the end of 2026 for the project, which is valued at approximately $5.3 billion.

The original intent had been to proceed with a sole-source contract. The competition, they said, would restore fairness while balancing schedule management for the project. The goal remains to domestically produce a sophisticated vessel “responding to increasingly sophisticated enemy nuclear weapons, missiles, and underwater threats.” They still expect the first vessel by 2030 and to complete the program by 2036.