The South Korean defense procurement agency announced December 21 that it has ordered two new frigates to be built for its navy.
The frigates were ordered three months ahead of the schedule with the aim of safeguarding and boosting local shipbuilding industry, the agency said.
South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) disclosed that the contract for two new FFX II frigates was worth 700 billion won (approx. $586 million) adding that the construction will be led by Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The HHI-built frigates will be the third and fourth ships in the class. The first two are built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) with the first ship in the class, ROKS Daegu, scheduled for delivery in 2017.
The new frigates will be equipped with a 16-cell Korean vertical launching system for defense against air threats and six torpedo tubes for anti-submarine warfare.
A total of eight second-batch frigates are expected to be built.