The Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy commissioned its fourth Daegu-class FFX Batch II frigate on 10 November 2021. ROKS Donghae (FFG-822) was built by local shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).
The commissioning ceremony took place at Jinhae Naval Base, East of Busan in Southern South Korea. According to the ROK Navy, the frigate is set to enter active duty in mid-2022. The frigate belongs to the ROK Navy’s First Fleet. Headquartered in Donghae, the First Fleet focuses on the East Sea (Sea of Japan).
First ship of the class, ROKS Daegu, was built by DSME. It was launched in June 2016 and commissioned with the ROK Navy on March 6, 2018. Second ship of the class, ROKS Gyeongnam was launched in June 2019 and was built by DSME as well. It was commissioned in January this year. The third and fourth frigates of the class ROKS Seoul and ROKS Donghae were built by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and were launched in November 2019 and April 2020 respectively. DSME launched the fifth and sixth ship of the class in May and September while HHI launched the seventh one earlier this month.
A total of 8 frigates of this class, also known as the Incheon-class batch II or FFG-II , are set to be built by both DSME and HHI, for the South Korean fleet.
A program to build the third batch (FFX Batch III) frigates which will displace over 3,000 tons and feature a phased array radar is also underway. HHI announced last month that it signed a contract for the detailed design and construction of the 3,500 ton FFX Batch III frigate.
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