According to the local sources at South Korea, Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction (HHIC) has announced on Thursday (1st November) that it has won an additional order to build four high-speed patrol boats, valued at $210 million in total for the South Korean Navy.
With the new addition, HHIC’s order backlog for Korean Navy’s next-generation patrol ships has come to 16 units worth $944 millon in total.
The country’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) began an open competitive tender process last October to select a builder of the fast attack craft as part of a PKX-B plan to modernize the Navy’s patrol fleets.
The PKX-B aims to build 200-ton or more new class ships to replace ageing 170-ton Chamsuri (Sea Eagle)-class vessels which were engaged in Yeonpyeong battles between North and South Korean patrol boats along a maritime boundary near Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea between 1999 and 2002.
The new vessels, equipped with 130-mm guided rockets, 76-mm cannon and other cutting-edge combat systems, are powered by water jet propulsion.
HHIC said it will carry out its mission as a defense company built on accumulated expertise in small and medium-sized warships and high-speed vessels.
