Incheon-class

Summary

Description

The Incheon-class frigates, also known during their development stage as the Future Frigate eXperimental (FFX), are a series of coastal defense frigates deployed by the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN). Launched on April 29, 2011, the lead ship is part of a broader initiative aimed at replacing the older Pohang-class corvettes and Ulsan-class frigates within the ROKN fleet. These frigates are assigned with multi-faceted missions including coast patrol, anti-submarine warfare, and transport support. Future variants are designed to be increasingly proficient in anti-air and anti-submarine operations. The class has been further developed into an advanced version known as the Daegu-class frigate.

Originally, the South Korean government planned to build a new class of coastal ships under the "Frigate 2000" program in the early 1990s, but this was postponed due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. With the decommissioning of the Gearing-class destroyers and older frigates, the plan was revived in the early 2000s as FFX. The initial ambition was to replace 37 ships from the Ulsan-, Pohang-, and Donghae-classes with twenty-four 3,000-ton frigates. However, after several adjustments, the finalized plan included six 2,300-ton ships for the first batch. Hyundai Heavy Industries won the contract in 2010, constructing the first ship, ROKS Incheon, named to represent the ROKN's commitment to defending the western islands and its confrontations with the North Korean navy.

The Incheon-class frigates boast considerable firepower, anchored by the 127 mm/L62 Mk. 45 Mod 4 naval gun, selected for naval barrage support during amphibious operations and ship-to-ship combat over a smaller 76 mm gun. For self-defense, these frigates are equipped with a 20 mm Phalanx Close-In Weapons System (CIWS) and the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile Block 1 launcher with a 21-round capacity. Additionally, the anti-submarine warfare arsenal includes K745 LW Cheong Sahng-uh (Blue Shark) torpedoes. The ships' anti-ship capabilities are reinforced by SSM-700K Haeseong (Sea Star) long-range anti-ship missiles. For land assaults, the Tactical Ship to Land attack missile, derived from the SSM-700K Haeseong, provides an extended reach, having been retrofitted onto the first batch of ships as of September 2016.

Technical specifications