FFX: Korea’s New Frigates

Ulsan Class:
ROKS Chongju
(click to view full)

Phalanx CIWS contract. (Sept 12/11)

South Korea currently owns some of the world’s best and most advanced shipyards. The civilian strength is beginning to create military leverage, and recent years have seen the ROK take several steps toward fielding a true open-ocean, blue water navy. Their new KDX-II destroyers, KDX-III AEGIS destroyers, LPX amphibious assault ships, and KSS-I/KSS-II (U209/U214) submarines will give the nation growing clout on the international stage, but what about the home front? North Korea’s submarines continue to insert commandos in South Korean territory, its gunboats have launched surprise attacks on the ROK Navy twice in the last decade, and fishing rights have become a contentious issue with China and led to the murder of a Coast Guard official.

Hence the FFX program, which aims to build upon lessons learned from shipbuilding programs during the 1980s and 1990s, and field a modern class of up 24-27 inshore patrol frigates that will replace 37 existing ships. A contract to build the lead FFX frigate was issued in December 2008, and they’re approaching the launch date for their 1st vessel…

• The FFX Class, and its Predecessors [updated]
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings

The FFX Class, and its Predecessors

Pohang Class ASW
(click to view full)

It’s easier to understand and critique the thinking behind FFX, if you look at what it will replace.

The ROKN’s 9 small 2,200 – 2,300 ton Ulsan Class frigates were built in South Korea, and commissioned from 1981-1993. They are not designed to operate alone in high-threat areas, or to provide general fleet defense on the open seas. Instead, they’re designed to serve as high-end coastal patrol vessels with a mix of anti-air (RIM-7 Sea Sparrow), anti-ship (guns, RGM-84 Harpoon), and anti-submarine capabilities. They carry a crew of 150.

The ROKN’s 24 Pohang Class 1,220 ton patrol corvettes were commissioned from 1984-1993, and have no anti-air missile capabilities. They mount 76mm, 40mm, and 30mm guns like the Ulsan Class, and are divided into 4 anti-surface warfare versions with MBDA’s Exocet ant-ship missiles, but no sonar or torpedoes; and 20 anti-submarine versions with sonar and torpedoes, but no missiles. They carry a crew of 95.

ROKS Cheonan, sunk by a North Korean torpedo in March 2010, was a Pohang Class ship.

The ROKN’s 4 low-end Dong Hae Class 1,000 ton patrol corvettes were commissioned from 1982-1983. they are armed with guns, sonar, and torpedoes, and also carry a crew of 95.

In contrast, the new FFX frigates will have a full displacement of 3,200 tons full load, and measure about 114m by 14m wide, with a crew of 145-170. They will follow the modern pattern of stealthier ship designs with far better radars, sonars, and communications equipment; but the new class will apparently accept less radar stealth in the design, in order to keep ship costs down.

FFX ships’ use of improved modern sonars via a Thales/STX partnership has become a particular focus, as post-Cheonan assessments questioned whether the anti-submarine detection systems on earlier-model ships were adequate for the task. That will eventually be complemented by a towed sonar, and the current plan is to produce that towed array in Korea.

Firepower will also improve, with a 5 inch/ 127mm gun, RAM Mk 31 short-range missiles for killing aircraft and fast boats, and an embarked Westland Lynx helicopter. Early reports also had the ships carrying a 30mm Thales Nederland “Goalkeeper’’ system for last-ditch missile defense and small boat overkill, like other South Korean combat vessels. In the end, however, the FFX became the first Korean ship to carry Raytheon’s smaller and less structurally intrusive 20mm Phalanx Block 1B, which shares commonalities with the RAM system. Anti-ship missiles and light torpedoes will also be carried, as is the case with the current Ulsan Class, but early reports suggest the ship will have to rely on fixed mounts, rather than vertical launchers.

This equipment set will still provide a notable firepower upgrade over the current Ulsan Class, and its equipment and versatility will provide a very considerable upgrade over the ROKN’s existing corvettes. The new frigates are expected to begin service in 2011, with the first 6 built and delivered by 2015. The ROK Navy intends to replace all ships in the Ulsan, Pohang, and Dong Hae classes by 2020.

Contracts and Key Events

Sept 12/11: Raytheon signs a $65.5 million Direct Commercial Sale contract to deliver 5 Phalanx Block 1B Close-In Weapon Systems to the Republic of Korea Navy for the new Ulsan-1 class FFX ships. The contract calls for the systems to be installed starting in April 2013, and represents Phalanx’s largest sale to the ROK fleet. Raytheon.

April 11/11: Raytheon announces that it has delivered the 1st 20mm Phalanx Block 1B Close-In Weapon System to the Republic of Korea Navy, representing the Phalanx’s introduction into the ROK fleet. The direct commercial sale calls for the Phalanx Block 1B system to be installed on the lead FFX frigate in 2011.

Raytheon expects to sign another contract with South Korea for an additional 5 Phalanx systems in the near future. The Phalanx has some small-ship advantages over Thales 30mm Goalkeeper, as it can be installed as a simple bolt-on.

March 29/11: Unconfirmed report that the lead FFX ship will be named ROKS KyungGi, and is expected to be launched in late April 2011. World Armed Forces Forum.

Sept 29/10: A spokesman from the ROK’s Defence Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA) tells Jane’s that Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has been selected to construct the 2nd and 3rd Ulsan-I class FFX frigates. A contract to build the 2 ships, estimated to be valued at around $600 million, is scheduled to be signed by the end of 2010, with deliveries from 2014. Jane’s.

June 6/10: The Korea Times reports that Raytheon has beaten Thales Nederland and MBDA to supply the FFX frigates’ air defense weapons. Its RAM Rolling Airframe Missile reportedly beat MBDA’s VL-MICA (a surprise mention, as the Crotale NG/Mk3 is a closer analog, whose land variant is already in service with the ROK Army), while Raytheon’s 20mm Phalanx system was picked over the 30mm Goalkeeper system that equips other Korean ships.

A DAPA spokesman told the paper that the Phalanx CIWS contract was signed in May, while negotiations remained in progress for the RAM system. DAPA hopes to finalize that by July, and other DAPa sources are quoted as giving the Phalanx system an $11 million price tag, and the RAM system about $17 million.

March 26/10: The Pohang Class corvette ROKS Cheonan is attacked and sinks, killing 46 of the 104 crew members. Subsequent investigation shows that it was sunk by a North Korean torpedo, fired from a submarine with what was apparently complete surprise.

The attack causes South Korea to re-evaluate its defense plans. The FFX project may end up receiving a boost, at the expense of high-end ships like the KDX-III AEGIS destroyers. Wikipedia re: Cheonan | Chosun Ilbo | JoongAng Daily | NY Times || ROK ambassador to US CSIS presentation [PDF] | Korea JoongAng Daily re: force rethink.

Oct/Nov 2009: Marine Propulsion reports that:

“Degaussing systems from SAM Electronics of Germany are specified for the Korean Navy’s new FFX-class multi-purpose frigates, starting with the lead-ship due next year. The order maintains a 30-year relationship forged when one of SAM’s predecessors, AEG-Schiffbau, secured a contract to deliver such systems to the first-generation Ulsan-class light frigates built in Korea….”

Degaussing systems are used to help remove magnetism from a ship’s hull. Without them, the ship becomes a lot more vulnerable to weapons like naval mines.

July 20/09: The Korea Times reports that their Navy plans to establish a strategic mobile fleet of 2 destroyer-led squadrons by February 2010, in a bid to develop blue-water operational capability beyond coastal defense against a North Korean invasion.

Each mobile squadron would initially consist of a KDX-III Aegis destroyer, 3 4,500-ton KDX-II destroyers, and maritime aircraft. That would be augmented by submarines and smaller ships like the FFX frigates, once a forward naval base is finished on the southern island of Jeju, around 2014.

March 18/09: Jane’s reports that South Korea’s DAPA procurement agency has re-issued a tender for the FFX’s tactical air navigation (TACAN) systems, after just one potential vendor submitted a bid. That triggered a DAPA rule forcing the re-issue.

Dec 26/08: Hyundai Heavy Industries signs a WON 140 billion (about $106.5 million) contract to build the lead ship of the South Korean Navy’s new FFX frigate class. It is not clear whether this is a complete contract, a contract for the ship minus “government furnished equipment” like weapons, or a partial award.

Hyundai had been in charge of the basic FFX design. There had been rumors that Korea was considering the RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow missile for medium-range air defense, to be mounted in a vertical launching system that could also host anti-submarine rockets and add new weapons over time. While the ships’ planned 4,550 nautical mile operating range might make that idea attractive, the South Korean Navy appears to have decided to contain costs, and stick to its original mission of coastal defense. Korea Times sources indicate that the new ships will not have vertical launchers. The Korea Times | Your Shipbuilding News.

Feb 5/07: Thales Underwater Systems announces a contract from Korea’s STX Engine CO Ltd, for industrial cooperation aiming at the full scale development of a new Hull Mounted Sonar (HMS) for the FFX frigate program. The sonar will be based on current Thales off-the-shelf products, and final contract completion is expected in 2009.

Additional Readings

• Global Security – FFK Ulsan class Frigate Korea (FFK)

• Global Security – Pohang (PCC Patrol Combat Corvette)

• Global Security – Tonghae / Dong Hae (PCC Patrol Combat Corvette)

• L-3 MAPPS – Experience. Entries include the Integrated Platform Management System for the FFX, as well as South Korea’s other modern surface combatants. The IPMS provides integrated monitoring and control of all of the ship’s platform machinery and systems such as propulsion, steering, electrical generation & distribution, auxiliaries, fire/smoke/flood detection and damage control. It also features advanced capabilities such as on-board full mission team training, and equipment health monitoring.

• ‘Manoeuvre’ in Maritime Asia (Feb 9/09) – PKX-A’s Contributions to the S. Korean Naval Community. Launch of the Yun Yeong-Ha Class of 500t patrol boats. Note the upgrade to include anti-ship missiles, even at this level.