WNAM REPORT: A new 8,200-ton Aegis destroyer armed with an advanced missile interception platform was commissioned Monday, the Navy said, in a move to bolster the Navy’s air defense capabilities against North Korean missiles.
A commissioning ceremony for the Jeongjo the Great destroyer, named after a visionary king of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), took place at a key naval base in the port city of Busan, some 325 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to the Navy.
The advanced destroyer was delivered to the Navy at a HD Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard last week. A commissioning ceremony is held to mark the beginning of a vessel’s active service.
The 170-meter-long, 21-meter-wide destroyer is equipped with radar-evading functions and the newest Aegis combat system, capable of not only detecting and tracking ballistic missiles but also intercepting them.
The warship is expected to be fitted with the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) ship-based surface-to-air missile system that is capable of intercepting incoming ballistic missiles at altitudes above 100 kilometers.
The Jeongjo the Great destroyer is the first of three 8,200-ton Aegis destroyers that Seoul aims to acquire under the Gwanggaeto-III Batch-II project. It is South Korea’s fourth Aegis destroyer after the ROKS King Sejong the Great, the ROKS Yulgok Yi I and the ROKS Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong.
