Making Way for Advanced New Frigates: South Korean Navy Decommissions Three of its Major Surface Combatants

South Korea’s Navy has decommissioned three of is major surface warships, including two of its frigates - the Ulsan Class warships ROKS Kyeongbuk and ROKS Masan, as well as a single Pohang Class corvette - the ROKS Suncheon. The country is moving to drastically modernise its fleet, and will replace these platforms with the new Daegu Class frigates, eight of which are planned for entry into service. The Daegu Claass displace 3,592 tons, making them considerably heavier than the Ulsan Class at just 2,200 tons, and deploy 16 vertical launch cells equipped with a combination of K-SAM surface to air missiles, Haeryong Class land attack cruise missiles and Hong Sang Eo anti submarine missiles. K-SAM systems, derived from the Russian S-350, are quad packed - meaning four can be deployed from a single vertical launch cell. The new frigates also deploy Haeseong anti ship cruise missiles, comparable to the American Harpoon with a 180km range and low Mach 0.85 speed, and LW Blue Shark anti submarine torpedoes. The decommissioned warships entered service in the final decade of the Cold War, and while formidable for their time they are increasingly considered out of date today. The are reportedly set to be used as targets to test new anti ship missiles.