An old design I had sitting in my "shipyard" for a long time (about 2 years).
Although original Kimon Class DDG's were still in good condition, after the decommissioning of Italian Audace Class in late 2006, Kimon's became the last steam powered warships in Europe. It was obvious that a new AAW Destroyer was needed. After evaluation of many designs (mainly with APAR radar) the South Korean KDX-II was chosen and equipped with APAR and ISI Osiris IV Combat Management System, SSM Adis II and Exocet MM40 Block III (Adis III). However, the long awaited cold launch Vertical Launch GMLS was not ready and ships use the US Mk41 VLS. First unit commissioned in June 2011, follow by the second in 2012. Third ship will enter sevice in September and fourth in 2015. Note that none ship built in Korea.
Specifications
Builders: Hyundai Heavy Industries/ Eleusis Shipyard
Dimensions : 150m X 17.4m X (9.5m?)
Displacement : 5,520tn
Complement : 300
Propulsion : CODOG (GENME 16V-GN650, each 4.9MW (6570hp) + 2 Aerodyne MT16-AD-330 gas turbines, each 25MW (33,500hp)
Speed : >30kn
Range : 5000nm/16kn
Armament
1 X OTO Melara 127/64 LW
ARIS VI CIWS
64-chell Mk41 VLS with:
16 ESSM, 8 SUR-30VL, SAM-75A/SSM-75A Adis VI (32-34/4-6), Chimera II cruise missiles (from 2016)
8 SSM-50D or SSM-100A (latter is RHN designation for Exocet MM40 Block III)
2 triple Mk32 torpedo tubes with Mk46 or TP-61 torpedoes
Helicopters: 2 X AB-212A2 or 1 AS332F helicopters
-Last DDG Kimon I decommissioned in March 2014.
-Note that HLK participated in the Aster program but withdrawn due to rising cost in 2003 and develop its own SAM system based on SM-2 frame. The resulting SAM-75A Adis VI guided from the APAR like SM-2 Block IIA.