30 Mar 2023
Jamie Chang story, additional reporting by Xavier Vavasseur
Today’s grand ceremony was presided by the officials from the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy, DAPA and DSME. After DSME seized the contract back in October 2019, the first ship of KSS-III Batch II had already undergone the steel cutting ceremony in May 2021. The first submarine is now being constructed under the program’s planned roadmap.
The KSS-III Batch II will feature various improvements over its predecessor, KSS-III Batch I (Dosan Ahn Changho-class). The improvements include more advanced combat management system and sonar systems, increased firepower owing to additional Vertical Launching System (VLS). This will allow KSS-III Batch II to be loaded with a greater number of Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBM), locally known as the derivatives of Hyunmoo missiles. Chosun Ilbo, previously reported that Korean SLBMs will be based on Hyunmoo-2B ballistic missiles (500 km range). According to the same source, KSS-III Batch-1 Dosan Ahn Changho-class submarines will have 6 VLS, while Batch-2 and Batch-3 submarines will feature 10 VLS.
DAPA also included in its statement that:
“adequately applying new technologies to our new generation of submarines will maximize its operability and ease in maintenance for the crews sailing in the ship.”
As South Korea eyes on the possible export of KSS-III Batch II in the future, much of the crucial components of the ship including Air Independent Propulsion (AIP), Lithium-Ion battery and KVLS (Korean Vertical Launching System) have been domestically developed and sourced, other than relying on foreign components unlike the previous generations of ROK Navy’s submarine fleet.
According to DSME, 80% of the components in the Batch-II ships will be produced domestically, a significant increase compared to previous models. It is hoped that this will create jobs and make the ship more competitive in the export market. Some components, however, will be produced abroad, with Spain’s Indra and France’s ECA Group providing the signals intelligence system and steering consoles respectively.
RADM (Rear Admiral) Kim Tae-Hoon, who is in charge of the program, emphasized that “KSS-III Batch II are the second generation of 3,000-tonne class of submarines that are to be designed and built with domestic technologies, and this will be a great opportunity to yet again show South Korea’s excellency in its shipbuilding industries.” He also mentioned that “I, as a leader of the program will continue to punctually manage the program until the first ship is successfully delivered to the ROK Navy.”
The first ship of KSS-III Batch II will be launched in 2025. After a couple years of trials for the ROC (Required Operational Capabilities), the first delivery of the ship to the ROK Navy is currently planned for 2027.
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