Destroyers from the South Korean Navy’s new surface action formation held the first fleet-level maritime training exercise over the weekend in a demonstration of Seoul’s growing blue water naval capabilities, US Naval Institute News reports.
The Jeju Island-based Task Fleet command was formed earlier this year as a rapid response force to counter strategic threats from North Korea and project the service’s power beyond Seoul’s maritime boundaries. The Republic of Korea Navy’s most capable warships, including Sejong the Great-class and Jeongjo the Great-class Aegis destroyers, as well as Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class destroyers, participated in the drills. The command consists of three units – the 71st, 72nd and 73rd task squadrons – each unit led by an Aegis destroyer, Naval News reported.
ROKS Jeongjo the Great (DDG-995), the command’s flagship and the largest Aegis Combat System-equipped surface combatant outside of the U.S. Navy, led a formation of five destroyers and two fast combat support ships for exercises, which spanned Nov. 9-11 in the Sea of Japan and the Korea Strait. The warships drilled in surface warfare, submarine hunting and air defense, according to a South Korean news release.
The formation also rehearsed its role in Seoul’s “Three-Axis” system, a strategy that employs various air defense and long-range strike assets to defend against and destroy North Korean capabilities in the event of a war. Alongside Jeongjo the Great, Aegis-equipped destroyers ROKS Yulgok Yi I (DDG-992) and ROKS Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong (DDG-993) drilled in ballistic missile detection and tracking during the fleet maneuvers.
To contribute to these plans, the South Korean Navy has developed its ballistic missile defense and attack capabilities aboard its surface combatants and submarines. Jeongjo the Great and other sister ships within the Sejong the Great-class of guided-missile destroyers are equipped with dozens of vertical launching cells for missile interceptors, long-range cruise missiles and domestically-produced ballistic missiles.
Compared to its Sejong the Great-class Batch-I sister ships, the recently commissioned Batch-II Jeongjo the Great class will come with 24 Korean Vertical Launching System IIs. These cells are designed to accommodate Seoul’s new ballistic missile defense interceptors and Hyunmoo ballistic missiles.
Recent Korean attack boats, such as the new ROKS Jang Yeongsil (SS-087), will be outfitted with submarine-launched ballistic missiles to enhance the service’s contribution to the anti-North Korean strike strategy.
The three-day exercise coincided with the 80th anniversary of the service’s founding. Since its early days in the aftermath of World War II, the ROK Navy has expanded its focus beyond the littorals of the Korean Peninsula and into surrounding waters amid increasing tensions across the Western Pacific.
The service must contend with numerous challenges from North Korea, Russia and China. All three countries have expanded their military cooperation and naval modernization in recent years. South Korean forces have scrambled fighters to respond to combined Chinese-Russian aerial and naval patrols. To the north, Pyongyang has expanded its ballistic and hypersonic capabilities. The North Korean Navy has also launched a new class of heavily armed destroyers.
