Cheonanham Revived as the Latest Escort Ship After 11 Years

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The Cheonan ship, which was attacked 11 years ago, is being revived as a state-of-the-art frigate protecting the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea.

According to military officials on the 5th, the Navy will hold the launching ceremony of the new Daegu-class frigate (FFG-II) No. 7 named "Cheonan" at Ulsan Hyundai Heavy Industries on the 9th.

The Daegu-class frigate is a 2,800-ton frigate equipped with powerful firepower capable of conducting anti-air, anti-ship, anti-submarine operations as well as land attack missions.

The Daegu-class frigate measures 122 meters in length, 14 meters in width, and has a top speed of 30 knots (approximately 55 km/h). It is equipped with a 5-inch naval gun, anti-ship guided missile "Haeseong," tactical surface-to-surface guided missile "Haeryong," anti-air guided missile "Haegung," long-range anti-submarine torpedo "Hongsang-eo," light torpedo "Cheongsang-eo," and a close-in weapon system (CIWS). Notably, the Hongsang-eo is launched into the air by a rocket propulsion system before entering the sea to strike submarines, unlike conventional torpedoes launched underwater. The stern has a landing pad capable of operating one maritime operation helicopter.

The Daegu-class frigate’s engine employs a hybrid propulsion system using gas turbines and electric motors. When propelled solely by the electric motor, underwater radiated noise is minimized, making it efficient for anti-submarine warfare. High-speed cruising using gas turbines is also possible. The introduction of the hybrid propulsion system to Navy vessels began as a result of the Cheonan ship attack. The Daegu-class frigate is equipped with both a hull-mounted sonar (HMS) and a towed array sonar system (TASS) to enhance submarine detection capabilities.

This class of ship is part of the "FFX Batch-II" project, which sequentially deploys as the main vessels of the maritime fleet to replace the old 1,500-ton frigates (FF) and patrol ships that have been in operation for over 30 years, starting with the first ship "Daegu" in 2018. The performance of the vessels improves from Batch-I to II and III.

A total of eight ships (the name of the 8th ship is undecided) of this class are planned to be operated, and their names are based on regional names. Accordingly, the No. 7 ship was named "Cheonan" after going through the ship-naming committee.

During the naming process, requests from the past Cheonan ship bereaved families association and the Cheonan ship foundation to reuse the name "Cheonan" were also taken into consideration.

President Moon Jae-in officially announced the naming of the Daegu-class frigate No. 7 as "Cheonan" during his commemorative speech at the 6th West Sea Defense Day held at the Navy’s 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, in March.

It was unusual for the president to reveal the ship’s name before the launching, and this was interpreted as a measure reflecting the meaning and symbolism of the "revival" of the Cheonan ship at that time.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.