KDX (

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

eXperimental) is a substantial shipbuilding program embarked on by the

Republic of Korea Navy The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN; ko, 대한민국 해군), also known as the ROK Navy or South Korean Navy, is the naval warfare service branch of the South Korean armed forces, responsible for naval and amphibious operations. The ROK Navy in ...

. It is a three-phased program consisting of three individual classes of ships: *

KDX-I The ''Gwanggaeto the Great''-class destroyers (Hangul: 광개토대왕급 구축함, Hanja: 廣開土大王級驅逐艦), often called KDX-I, are destroyers, but are classified by some as frigates, operated by the Republic of Korea Navy. It was ...

(3,800 tons), *

KDX-II ''Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin'' class destroyers (, Hanja: 忠武公李舜臣級驅逐艦) are multipurpose destroyers of the Republic of Korea Navy. The lead ship of this class, ROKS ''Chungmugong Yi Sunsin'', was launched in May 2002 and commission ...

(5,500 tons), *

Aegis The aegis ( ; grc, αἰγίς ''aigís''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a d ...

-equipped

KDX-III The ''Sejong the Great''-class destroyers (Sejongdaewang-Geup Guchukam or Hangul: 세종대왕급 구축함, Hanja: 世宗大王級驅逐艦), also known as KDX-III, are three guided-missile destroyers of the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN). Hull ...

(11,000 tons). *

KDX-IIA KDX-IIA is an Aegis Combat System armed variant of the KDX-II, of the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN). As of 2011 ROKN planned to build at least 6 ships of this class with a proposed displacement of 5500 ~ 7500 tons over the 2019 to 2026 time fr ...

, planned derivative of KDX-II with

Aegis combat system The Aegis Combat System is an American integrated naval weapons system developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of RCA, and it is now produced by Lockheed Martin. Initially used by the United States Navy, Aegis is now used also by t ...

(5,500 ~ 7,500 tons)

''Gwanggaeto the Great'' class destroyer (KDX-I)

''Chungmugong Yi Sun-shin'' class destroyer (KDX-II)

''Sejong the Great'' class destroyer (KDX-III)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Korean Destroyer Experimental Destroyers of the Republic of Korea Navy