The South Korean Navy is all set to induct Daejeon, the latest ship of the FFX Batch II frigate series. The Daegu class project replaces the frigate (FF, Frigate which includes ROKS Jeju, ROKS Busan and ROKS Cheongju) and patrol ship (PCC, Patrol Combat Corvette) operated by the Navy. Daegu class is also referred as the Incheon Class Batch II. One of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration press release (while announcing the Seoul) refers it as Ulsan-class Batch-II.
Daejeon is the fifth of the series of the FFX Batch II class. The first four are ROKS Daegu, ROKS Gyeongnam, Seoul, Donghae and Daejeon. Only the first two of the series are formally inducted into the navy. The rest three are in various stages of outfitting. South Korea plans eight ships in this class. Four units of the ships have been awarded to Daewoo S&ME and four are being built by Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The FFX Batch II frigate is 122 meters long, 14 meters wide, 35 meters high, and 2,800 tons of scale. It is armed with a 5-inch gun, a close-in Weapon System (CIWS), ship to ship missile and a tactical ship to surface guided missile. This ship can carry one helicopter. In particular, the FFX Batch II frigate has anti-submarine capability which was not present in the Incheon-class frigate (FFG-I). This class is manned by 120 crew.
The FFX Batch II frigate was equipped with a Towed Array Sonar System (TASS), which has improved performance compared to the one used by the destroyer, along with the HMS (Hull Mounted Sonar). In addition, a hybrid system (mechanical + electric) using a gas turbine and a propulsion motor as a propulsion system is used to reduce the underwater radiated noise.