Gwanggaeto the Great-class destroyer ROKS Yang Man-chun is the first KDX-I vessel to receive the upgrade.
The PIP for the three destroyers was awarded to DSME by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) in 2018.
According to a DSME statement, ROKS Yang Man-chun is the third ship in the series of KDX-I destroyers developed by DSME in the 1990s with pure domestic technology from basic design to electrification. The KDX-I destroyer is the first Korean Navy vessel to have anti-aircraft, anti-surface, and anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
The PIP consisted in upgrades to the main equipment and systems of the ship to bring them on par with technology found aboard the latest vessels of the ROK Navy. ROKS Yang Man-chun can now handle three times as much data on targets at a speed 100 times faster than the previous version, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.
According to Hanwha Systems, the KDX-I PIP Combat System improves the performance of the destroyer combat system on the basis of the verified domestic technology. It is the system supporting the operation as the command decision support and armament control means by securing the united communication capability through the Link-16 mounting and the wide tactical situation recognition capability with the information sharing with the united and joint powers and by comprehensively processing the information acquired from the self detection sensor and another ship under the multiple simultaneous combat situations.
The vessel’s towed array sonar system was also upgraded to boost the ROK Navy’s capability to carry out anti-submarine operations, DAPA said. An LIG Nex1 source told Naval News that the company provided upgraded SLQ-261K torpedo decoy launchers.
A representative from DSME said:
“No one was interested in this project due to its high technical difficulty, but Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering took over the business based on its high technology and led it to success. We will contribute to the development of the Korean Navy and national security in various fields such as the concept design project.”
