The ''Yoon Youngha''-class patrol vessel (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The le ...

: 윤영하급 미사일고속함) also known as PKG-class patrol vessel is a class of patrol ship of 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 i ...

. One variant is in active service and a smaller variant is planned. The first being the PKX-A or ''Yun Youngha''-class missile patrol ship (

: 윤영하급 고속함), and the second the patrol boat (also known as Chamsuri-211-class patrol boat or Gumdoksuri-class patrol vessel).

Development

The

(ROKN) began development of the PKG class in 2003 after a ''Chamsuri''-class (PKM-class) patrol boat was sunk during a naval clash with North Korean patrol boats on June 29, 2002. The codenamed PKX (''Patrol Killer eXperimental'') program is the

patrol boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...

modernization project of the ROKN. The PKX consist of two main designs. The larger, missile armed PKX-A(PKG) of approximately 500 tons and the smaller gun armed PKX-B(PKMR) of approximately 200 tons. PKX-A(PKG) is planned to take up some of the operations done by s, and the PKX-B(PKMR) is planned to replace the aging fleet. The first PKX-A(PKG) vessels were ordered from Hanjin Heavy Industries. The

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of the class, ''Yoon Youngha'' (PKG 711), named after Lieutenant Commander Yoon Youngha who was killed during the second battle of Yeonpyeong, was launched on June 28, 2007 and commissioned on December 17, 2008. The production of the PKX-A(PKG) are being divided between Hanjin Heavy Industries and STX in lots of four. The PKX-B variant includes a 130 mm guided rocket launcher at the stern. The first vessel was launched in July 2016 and was commissioned in late 2017; all four ships in the first batch will be delivered by the end of 2019. A contract was awarded to Hanjin Heavy Industries for ships 5 through 8 in June 2017, which are scheduled to be delivered after 2020. The contract for ships 9 through 12 were awarded in early 2018. The PKX-B was specifically designed to counter North Korean fast swarming crafts. The 12-canister 130 mm guided rocket launcher can hit targets between using a rocket weighing with an warhead. Rockets have

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

/ INS midcourse guidance with data uplink and terminal IIR homing, and three can be fired simultaneously.LIG Nex1 PKX-B 130mm Guided Rocket Launcher to Counter Swarm Attacks
- Navyrecognition.com, 25 October 2017

Ships in the class

* The PKX-A first six ships were named after the sailors of patrol boat ''PKM 357'', who were killed during the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong in 2002. * South Korean navies do not use the number '0', '4' when assigning Pennant numbers to their ships. In Korea, there is a superstitious belief that '4' is an unlucky number (much like Friday the 13th). '0' is also considered as bad luck. There are two exceptions, though - MLS 560 Wonsan and submarines.

References

{{Republic of Korea Navy ships Patrol vessels of the Republic of Korea Navy Patrol boat classes Ships built in South Korea

Development

Ships in the class

See also

References