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| South Korean Navy Daegu Class frigates using Rolls-Royce engines /Naval News |
International Military - Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has launched the eighth FFX Batch-II (Daegu Class) frigate for the South Korean Navy (ROKN) on March 22 at the Ulsan shipyard.
The Daegu Class frigates have a wide range of capabilities. "Its attack capability against both underwater and surface targets has been enhanced. Its anti-submarine warfare capabilities will help defend our northern boundary line," said Jeong Yeong-soon, Director of ROKN.
"ROKN has prepared itself for the future, we have produced warships and competent personnel," he added, quoted from the Naval News page.
Apart from its greatness and sophistication, there is one interesting thing to discuss, namely the engine used by this Daegu Class frigate. Rolls-Royce supplies gas turbine MT30 engines to the Daegu Class frigate ROKN
Rolls-Royce has won a contract to supply MT30 marine gas turbines to power the South Korean Navy's Daegu Class frigates. The frigate will carry out missions such as anti-submarine warfare, anti-air, patrol, surveillance, search and rescue, EEZ protection and transportation.
"...The Daegu class is an interesting program, being the first frigate to use a single MT30 and the first program for the MT30 outside the UK and US markets," said Don Roussinos, President of Rolls-Royce on his official website, Rolls-Royce.com. "We understand that the Daegu Class requires fast acceleration, so we say that the MT30 is the solution," he added.
Once the testing is complete, the MT30 engine will be sent to South Korea where the HHI engine division will retest it before integrating it into the Daegu Class. The MT30 is the world's most powerful gas turbine engine with a "solid" power, which delivers very high power output despite its compact engine size.
To date, the Rolls-Royce MT30 is in service with the US Navy's Freedom Class littoral battleships as well as on state-of-the-art attack ships, the Zumwalt Class. It has also been selected for installation on the Global Type 26 battleship and the new British royal carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.
The Daegu Class frigates weigh 2,800 tonnes and are 3,593 tonnes when fully loaded. At 122 m long, 14 m wide and 34 m high, the Daegu Class frigate is capable of accommodating one helicopter. Making the frigate a versatile warship for the South Korean Navy.
This class has 16 missile launch sites, including anti-air, anti-submarine and tactical land cruise missiles. They are also equipped with torpedo launchers and eight "Haeseong SSM-700K" anti-ship missiles.
The interesting thing here is that, according to Naval News, all the missiles mentioned above are manufactured by a local company namely LIG Nex1. For the navy's primary weapon, the Daegu Class is armed with the Mk-45 Phalanx Block 1B short-range machine gun.
For the runway, the Daegu Class uses a combined diesel-electric and gas propulsion system consisting of one gas turbine and four diesel generators. The combination results in a "quiet" frigate while increasing fuel efficiency.
South Korea-based Hyosung Corporation has been contracted by DSME to provide the hybrid electric drive (HED) drive system and main reduction gear. Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce was selected in 2012 to provide the MT30 marine gas turbine to provide power.
The MT30 marine gas turbine, weighing 6,500 kg, puts out a maximum power output of between 36MW and 40MW. The Daegu Class frigates are capable of cruising at a maximum speed of 30 knots or more than 55 kilometers and a range of 8,000 miles.
According to ROKN, the frigate has advanced sonar that increases the "sensitivity" to the presence of submarines in littoral operations. This passive sonar system uses the low frequency SQR-250K TASS, which is used to detect, identify and track enemy submarines.