Rolls-Royce announced it has won a contract to supply MT30 marine gas turbines to power the next three ships in the Republic of Korea Navy’s Daegu-class frigate program.
Eight Daegu-class frigates (also known as FFX II) are scheduled to be built. The first ship being built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) was launched at DSME’s Okpo shipyard in June 2016.
The second ship will also be built by DSME while ships three and four will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) SNSD.
The MT30 gas turbines for ships two and three are due to be delivered in the second half of 2018 and for ship four very early in 2019, Rolls-Royce said
FFX II frigates displace 2800 tonnes, measure 122 meters in length and can reach speeds of 30 knots, according to DSME. They will be equipped with a 16-cell Korean vertical launching system for defense against air threats and six torpedo tubes for anti-submarine warfare.
The frigates are intended for a variety of missions including anti-submarine warfare, anti-air warfare, patrol, surveillance, search and rescue, protection of EEZ, and transport.
“Our continued supply to this programme validates our on-going relationship with DSME and HHI. The Daegu class is an exciting programme. It is the world’s first frigate to use a single MT30 in the compact package and our first application for MT30 outside the UK and US markets,” Don Roussinos , Rolls-Royce, President – Naval, said. “The MT30 gas turbine has been successfully installed in ship one and is currently successfully supporting the commissioning of ROK Daegu’s propulsion system. We understand that MT30 has powered the ship to meet its full speed requirement.”