May 2, 200521 yr Fourth Stealth Destroyer for Korean Navy English.Chosun.com The Navy will launch another Korean Destroyer Experimental (KDX) II class destroyer armed with the latest anti-ship and anti-air missiles on Wednesday, when the "Wang-geon" steams out of the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan. The 4,200 ton stealth destroyer, the fourth KDX-II class destroyer after the Chungmugong Yi Soon-shin, Munmudaewang and Daejoyeong, takes its name from the founder of the ancient Korean kingdom of Goryeo. It's 150 meters long with a beam of 17 meters and height of 9.5 meters and has a top speed of 30 knots. The Wang-geon packs a powerful punch with its Harpoon anti-ship missiles with a range of 130 km and Standard SM-II anti-air missiles capable of accurately intercepting aircraft and cruise missiles 100 km away. It also features the 30mm Thales Nederland Goalkeeper close-in weapon system (CIWS) for downing incoming missiles and can carry two Super Lynx anti-submarine helicopters. The ship's hull incorporates stealth technology to frustrate attempts by enemy radar to detect it. The Wang-geon is the biggest warship in the Korean Navy, but not nearly as big as Japan's or China's latest. The Japanese have four 7,250 ton Aegis destroyers, sometimes called the "dream warship". China has bought two 7,000 ton Sovremenny-class destroyers from Russia, and has built or is building several other warships between 4,000 and 7,000 tons. Korea will have to wait until 2008 for the KDX-III, which at 7,000 tons has roughly the same displacement as Japan's Aegis.
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