According to the Yonhap News Agency, the delivery of the four vessels is expected by 2022. With this new US$211 million order, the shipyard backlog with the ROK Navy now reaches US$946 million.
HHIC was selected to build the ship in 2014, followed by three additional follow-on ships in 2016, and four more ships in 2017 and 2018.
PKX-B Chamsuri II-class
The first PKX-B fast attack craft (pennant number 211) was launched in October 2017, followed by another batch of threes in December 2018.
This 300-ton, high-speed patrol ships replacing the RoK Navy’s Chamsuri-class patrol vessels. The PKX-B, also known as the Chamsuri II-class, is armed with 130mm guided rockets, a 76mm naval gun, K-6 remotely controlled weapon system (RCWS) and a Korean combat system.
The vessel class, also known as PKMR for Patrol-boat Killer Medium Rocket, is the first to be fitted with the LIG Nex1/Hanwha 130mm guided rocket launcher at the stern. The system was specifically design to counter swarming attacks of DPRK Navy (North Korea) fast attack crafts and hovercrafts. The launcher has 12 canisters each containing a single 130mm guided rocket. The rocket has a range of over 20 Km and minimum range of 3 Km. The rocket weighs over 80 Kg (including the 8Kg warhead). The mid course guidance of the rocket is GPS + INS + data uplink and the terminal guidance is IIR homing. The system fitted aboard the PKX-B can engage over 3 targets simultaneously according to LIG Nex1.
