On the blue sea, a new destroyer, the King Jeongjo, which the Koreans proudly call "Asia's No. 1 Battleship", is quietly guarding South Korea's maritime borders. This warship, as the pride of the South Korean Navy, not only carries the hope of South Korea's national defense, but also symbolizes the leap in the country's scientific and technological and industrial capabilities.
To understand the destroyer "King Jeongjo", we have to go back to the 90s of the 20th century. At that time, the South Korean Navy realized the need to break through and decided to build new missile destroyers to replace the American "Keeling" and "Alan Somna" class destroyers that had been in service for many years. This shipbuilding program led to the creation of the KDX-I-class destroyer. These destroyers, although the standard displacement is only 3181 tons, the ship is small and lightweight, but with the LM2500 gas turbine on board, it has reached an amazing speed, up to 30 knots.
Time flies, and in 2007, the South Korean Navy ushered in a major moment - the destroyer "King Sejong" was launched and opened to navigation. The KDX-III class destroyer is not only highly modern and capable of combat, but can also carry a staggering 128 missiles of all kinds, including ship-to-ship missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, cruise missiles and torpedoes. Such a first-class configuration makes the "King Sejong" stand out among similar ships.
It is worth mentioning that South Korea introduced the Aegis defense system from the United States in 2005. This advanced defense system provides strong support for KDX-III class destroyers such as the King Sejong. The Aegis system, with its high efficiency and precision, provides a strong backing for the South Korean Navy.
However, just as South Korea is proud of its military equipment, the rapid rise of the Chinese navy puts no small pressure on them. In particular, the emergence of China's Type 055 destroyers has made the South Korean Navy feel an unprecedented challenge. In order to cope with this challenge, South Korea decided to improve the "King Sejong" and launched the "King Jeongjo".
King Jeongjo "was lengthened on the hull and has a displacement of about 12,000 tons. But surprisingly, its early warning radar is the AN SPY-1D type radar, which has been eliminated by the United States. At the same time, it chose the Harpoon family and the Standard 3 missiles in the missile configuration. Although these configurations still have a certain level of technology, they are somewhat stretched compared to China's Type 055 destroyers. The Type 055 destroyer uses a dual-band active phased array radar, which can not only detect targets at a distance of 1,000 kilometers, but also guide shipborne missiles within a range of 600 kilometers.
Technically, the "King Jeongjo" has a certain similarity with the American Arleigh Burke II-class destroyer, but a careful comparison shows that there is still a considerable gap between the two in terms of details and performance. Compared with China's Type 055 destroyers, the "King Jeongjo" is incapable of radar technology, missile configuration, and the ability to independently design and produce.
Although South Korea has made certain progress in destroyer technology, there is still a significant gap between its "King Jeongjo" and the advanced destroyers of China and other countries. This also reminds us that only by continuous innovation and continuous progress can we remain invincible in the fierce international competition.