ROKS Sejong the Great during the Busan International Fleet Review on 7 October 2008.
South Korea
Name	Sejong the Great (세종대왕/世宗大王)
Namesake	Sejong the Great
Builder	Hyundai
Launched	25 May 2007
Commissioned	22 December 2008
Identification	Pennant number: DDG-991
Status	Active
General characteristics
Class and type	Sejong the Great-class destroyer
Displacement	8,500 tons standard displacement 11,000 tons full load
Length	166 m (544 ft 7 in)
Beam	21.4 m (70 ft 3 in)
Draft	6.25 m (20 ft 6 in)
Propulsion	4 × General Electric LM2500 COGAG; 2 × shafts; 100,000 shp (75 MW) produced power
Speed	exceeds 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km; 6,300 mi)
Endurance	30 days
Complement	300 crew
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPY-1D(V) multi-function radar AN/SPG-62 fire control radar DSQS-21BZ-M hull mounted sonar SQR-220K towed array sonar system Sagem Infrared Search & Track (IRST) system
Electronic warfare & decoys	LIG Nex1 SLQ-200K Sonata electronic warfare suite
Armament	1 × 5 inch (127 mm)/L62 caliber Mk 45 Mod 4 naval gun 1 × 30 mm Goalkeeper CIWS 1 × RAM Block 1 CIWS 16 × SSM-700K Haeseong Anti-ship Missiles 2 × triple torpedo tubes for K745 Blue Shark torpedo 80-cell Mk 41 VLS for SM-2 Block IIIB/IV 48-cell K-VLS for: K-ASROC Red Shark Hyunmoo III land attack cruise missiles
Aircraft carried	2 × Super Lynx or SH-60 Seahawk
Aviation facilities	Hangar and helipad

ROKS Sejong the Great (DDG-991) is the lead ship of her class of guided missile destroyer built for the Republic of Korea Navy. She was the first Aegis-built destroyer of the service and was named after the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty of Korea, Sejong the Great.^[1]

Background

The ship features the Aegis Combat System (Baseline 7 Phase 1) combined with AN/SPY-1D multi-function radar antennae.^[1]

The Sejong the Great class is the third phase of the South Korean navy's Korean Destroyer eXperimental (KDX) program, a substantial shipbuilding program, which is geared toward enhancing ROKN's ability to successfully defend the maritime areas around South Korea from various modes of threats as well as becoming a blue-water navy.^[2]

At 8,500 tons standard displacement and 11,000 tons full load, the KDX-III Sejong the Great destroyers are by far the largest destroyers in the South Korean Navy, and indeed are larger than most destroyers in the navies of other countries.^[3] and built slightly bulkier and heavier than Arleigh Burke-class destroyers or Atago-class destroyers to accommodate 32 more missiles. As such, some analysts believe that this class of ships is more appropriately termed a class of cruisers rather than destroyers.^[4] KDX-III are currently the largest ships to carry the Aegis combat system.^[5]

Construction and career

ROKS Sejong the Great was launched on 25 May 2007 by Hyundai Heavy Industries. She was commissioned into the ROK Navy on 22 December 2008.

Gallery

• ROKS Sejong the Great Gallery
• 
  ROKS Sejong the Great arriving in Pearl Harbor during RIMPAC 2010.
• 
  ROKS Sejong the Great during RIMPAC 2010.
• 
  ROKS Sejong the Great alongside USS Chosin during RIMPAC 2010.
• 
  ROKS Sejong the Great during RIMPAC 2010.
• 
  ROKS Sejong the Great alongside USS McClusky and HMCS Algonquin during RIMPAC 2010.

References