Incheon-class frigate

Incheon-class frigate
Class overview
Name	Incheon class
Builders	Hyundai Heavy Industries STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering
Operators	Republic of Korea Navy
Preceded by	Template:Sclass- Template:Sclass-
Subclasses	Future Philippine Navy Frigate
Cost	$232 million
In service	Batch I: 6
Planned	18 to 24
Building	Batch II: 1
Completed	Batch I: 6
General characteristics
Type	Coastal defense frigate
Displacement	2,300 t (Batch I) (empty), 2,800 t (Batch II) (empty) 3,251t (Batch I) (full load) (Some Korean Source claims 2,800t), 3,592t (Batch II) (full load)
Length	114 m (374 ft), 122m (Batch II)
Beam	14 m (46 ft)
Draft	4 m (13 ft)
Propulsion	CODLAG(Batch II); CODOG(Batch I) 2 × MTU 12V 1163 TB83 diesel engine 2 × GE LM2500 gas turbine (Batch I) 1 x Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbine (Batch II)
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) (max) 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) (cruising)
Range	4,500 nautical miles (8,000 km)
Complement	140
Sensors and processing systems	SPS-550K 3D air search radar SPS-540K fire control radar SQS-240K hull-mounted sonar SQR-220KA1 towed array sonar system (Batch II) Hanwha Systems IRSTs Naval Shield Integrated Combat Management System
Electronic warfare & decoys	LIG Nex1 SLQ-200(V)K Sonata electronic warfare suite SLQ-261K torpedo acoustic counter measures KDAGAIE Mk2 decoy launchers (Batch I) MASS decoy launchers (Batch II)
Armament	1 × 5 inch Mk-45 Mod 4 (127mm/L62) naval gun 1 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS 2 × 3 K745 LW Blue Shark torpedoes Missiles: Batch I: 1 × RAM Block 1 (21 round launcher) 2 × 4 SSM-700K Haeseong anti-ship missiles 2 × 4 Haeseong Tactical Land Attack Missiles Batch II: 16 cell KVLS Haegung K-SAAM (4 per cell) Haeseong Tactical Land Attack Missiles (vertical launch) Hong Sang Eo anti-submarine rockets 2 × 4 SSM-700K Haeseong anti-ship missiles
Aircraft carried	Super Lynx or AW159
Aviation facilities	Flight deck and enclosed hangar for up to one medium-lift helicopters

The Incheon-class frigates (Hangul: 인천급 호위함, Hanja: 仁川級護衛艦), also known as the Future Frigate eXperimental or FFX during development, are coastal defense frigates of the Republic of Korea Navy. The lead ship was launched on 29 April 2011. The Incheon-class frigates will replace the aging fleet of Template:Sclass- corvettes and Template:Sclass- frigates, and take over multi-role operations such as coast patrol, anti-submarine warfare and transport support. Later batches are planned to be specialized on anti-air and anti-submarine warfare.

Development

In the early 1990s, the Korean government plan for the construction of next generation coastal ships named Frigate 2000 was scrapped due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. But the decommissioning of the Template:Sclass- destroyers and the aging fleet of Ulsan-class frigates, the plan was revived as the Future Frigate eXperimental, also known as FFX in the early 2000s.

The Republic of Korea Navy initially wanted twenty-four 3000 ton frigates to replace the Ulsan-, Pohang- and Template:Sclass--class coastal fleet of 37 ships. It was later decided that six 2700 ton ships will be constructed for the first batch. In 2008, the plan was further downgraded to 2300 tons when president Lee Myung-bak took office, with the number of ships for the first batch down to six. 6-9 ships are planned for the second batch of FFX with the final goal of 20-24 frigates.

Batch II vessels are to be built by DSME with the twin gas turbine layout replaced with a single Rolls Royce MT30 turbine engine, and propulsion will be all-electric. Other changes include a 16-cell Korean Vertical Launch System (KVLS) with longer-ranged surface-to-air missiles and the use of anti-submarine missiles, and a larger hangar for a 10-ton helicopter.

In 2010 the construction of the first FFX frigate was awarded to Hyundai Heavy Industry and in April 2011 the first of its class, ROKS Incheon was launched. The ship is named after the western port city of Incheon, representing the Republic of Korea Navy's initiative to defend the western islands due to the constant clashes with the North Korean navy in this area.

Armament

The Incheon-class frigates main gun is the 127mm/L62 Mk. 45 Mod 4 naval gun. This was chosen over a smaller 76mm for naval barrage support in amphibious landings and superiority in ship to ship firing. Point-defense armaments include a single 20 mm Phalanx CIWS and a RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile Block 1 21-round launcher. The anti-submarine warfare armaments consists of K745 LW Cheong Sahng-uh (Blue Shark) torpedoes. Anti-ship capability is provided by SSM-700K Hae Sung (Sea Star) long-range anti-ship missile, each with performance similar to the U.S. Harpoon. Land-attack capability is provided by the recently developed in Tactical Ship to Land attack missile which based on SSM-700K Hae Sung; initially, the land attack missiles were planned to start arming batch 2 Incheon-class ships, but feasibility studies showed they could be retrofitted to batch 1 ships, which will begin in September 2016, enhancing their flexibility and deterrence capabilities with 150–200 km (93–124 mi)-range tactical missiles.

The FFX-II series of the ship will be able to deploy the Cheolmae-2 medium-range air defense missile, Hong Sang Eo anti-submarine rocket, and possibly the Hyunmoo-3 series of land attack cruise missiles from their K-VLS.

Ships in the class

Name	Number	Builder	Launched	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Status
FFG-I
ROKS Incheon	FFG-811	Hyundai Heavy Industries	29 April 2011	17 January 2013		Active
ROKS Gyeonggi	FFG-812	Hyundai Heavy Industries	18 July 2013	4 November 2014		Active
ROKS Jeonbuk	FFG-813	Hyundai Heavy Industries	13 November 2013	5 January 2015		Active
ROKS Gangwon	FFG-815	STX Offshore & Shipbuilding	12 August 2014	November 2015		Active
ROKS Chungbuk	FFG-816	STX Offshore & Shipbuilding	23 October 2014	26 January 2016		Active
ROKS Gwangju	FFG-817	STX Offshore & Shipbuilding	11 August 2015	9 November 2016		Active
FFG-II
ROKS Daegu	FFG-818	Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering	2 June 2016	2017		Launched

Export market

A variant of the Incheon class being offered by an Hyundai Heavy Industries to the Philippines' Department of National Defense for their requirement of 2 new frigates. As of September 1, 2016, this variant is now on the Notice of Award.

In November 2012, it was reported that Israel is mulling a deal to purchase four Incheon-class frigates from South Korea, which would be built jointly by Hyundai Heavy Industries and Israel Shipyards. Israel is also transferring their technology to the Incheons. The 1,400-ton frigates under negotiation with Israel are said to be priced at about US$100 million each.