[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Hanwha Ocean VS HD Hyundai, This Time Special Warfare Support Ship and Infiltration Submarine Contract Battle

Defense Acquisition Program Administration to Conclude Project Analysis by This Month
Domestic Development Decision Expected with Announcement in 2025
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Faces Setback in Bidding Due to Security Downgrade

After 15 years of no progress since the decision to introduce them, the final decision on whether to re-pursue the Special Warfare Support Ship and Special Infiltration Boat projects will be made this month. Defense companies Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries are expected to enter the bidding competition, with industry insiders predicting that Hanwha Ocean will have the advantage.

The special warfare support ship is known to have a catamaran-type hull form. The U.S. military's catamaran high-speed transport ship Spearhead. Photo by U.S. Navy

According to the military on the 1st, the Joint Chiefs of Staff partially revised the requirements for the Special Warfare Support Ship and Special Infiltration Boat at the end of last year, prompting the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) to begin project analysis in March this year, with a conclusion expected this month.

The Special Warfare Support Ship and Special Infiltration Boat are considered a package. The Special Warfare Support Ship, which serves as the mothership, carries Navy Special Warfare Brigade personnel and several Special Infiltration Boats, which are the child vessels, traveling long distances. The Special Infiltration Boats then land the personnel onshore. Equipped with stealth capabilities to avoid radar detection, they can conduct covert retaliatory operations in response to localized provocations by North Korea. The project was decided upon by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in October 2008, and gained momentum after North Korea’s sinking of the Cheonan in March 2010 and the Yeonpyeong Island shelling in November 2010. However, disputes among companies over whether to develop domestically or import directly from overseas caused the project to lose momentum.

The new Special Warfare Support Ship is expected to consist of 4 vessels, and the Special Infiltration Boats about 20 vessels. The total project cost is 1.25 trillion KRW. It is known that DAPA has leaned towards domestic development through the project analysis. If a final decision for domestic development is made within this month, the project announcement is expected to be released by early 2025.

Which company will win the contract is also a matter of interest. The issue is that HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has been receiving security penalty points in bids for three years since November last year due to military secrets leaks related to the next-generation Korean Destroyer (KDDX) project’s conceptual design. This is also why HD Hyundai Heavy Industries was excluded as the preferred negotiator for the construction of the Ulsan-class Batch III ships 5 and 6. Notably, among the 11 cases of classified information leaks were military secrets related to the Special Infiltration Boat and Special Warfare Support Ship, leading industry analysts to believe that it will be practically difficult for HD Hyundai Heavy Industries to win the contract.

At the recent National Assembly audit of DAPA, Director Eom Dong-hwan stated, “It was difficult to conduct a detailed review because obtaining the court ruling on HD Hyundai Heavy Industries was challenging, but we have recently secured the ruling,” adding, “We plan to review the imposition of debarment sanctions through contract deliberations.”

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