South Korea begins detailed design, construction of lead KDDX ship

An artist's rendition of South Korea's future Korean Destroyer Next Generation (KDDX) vessel. (Hanwha Ocean)

South Korea's Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced on 31 July that it has signed a contract with Hanwha Ocean for the lead ship in the Republic of Korea Navy's (RoKN's) Korean Destroyer Next Generation (KDDX) programme.

The contract was signed on the day of the announcement, marking the programme's entry into the detailed design and lead-ship construction phase, DAPA said.

DAPA said the lead ship is scheduled for delivery to the RoKN in 2032 and described the programme as a key effort to strengthen the core capabilities of the navy's task force operations.

The agency added that the KDDX programme is intended to deliver South Korea's first domestically developed Aegis-equipped destroyer, incorporating a high proportion of indigenous combat systems and weapons.

The announcement follows Hanwha Ocean's disclosure in a regulatory filing on 2 July 2026 that it had been selected by DAPA as the preferred bidder for the detailed design and lead-ship construction programme.

At the time, the company said negotiations on detailed contract terms were still under way and that a final agreement had yet to be concluded.

The KDDX programme was approved in 2018 and is intended to provide the RoKN with a new class of destroyers positioned between the navy's KDX-II and KDX-III surface combatants.

The destroyers will displace about 6,500 tonnes and are being developed to undertake air-defence, anti-surface warfare, and anti-submarine warfare missions.

The vessels are expected to incorporate an indigenous multifunction phased-array radar, a domestically developed combat management system, sonar systems, and a range of South Korean-produced missile systems.

For more, please see Hanwha Ocean selected to build South Korea's KDDX lead ship