At 8000 tons displacement, it will be lighter than Sejong the Great-class destroyers, but with more advanced sensors and stealth characteristics and lower operating costs.
[6] The total cost of developing and producing the six vessels is expected to top $6.2 billion.
[7] The project was unveiled back in 2009 next-generation during the 2009 Navy Audit and was supposed to be equipped with SM-2 surface-to-air missiles and SPY-based radars that would slot in between the Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class destroyer (KDX-II) and Sejong the Great-class destroyer (KDX-III).
[8] In 2012, it was again confirmed that the Republic of Korea Navy would procure six next-generation destroyers and the project being renamed from KDX-IIA to KDDX in the Basic Plans for Defense Reform (2012-2030) and that it would be built after 2020.
During MADEX 2019, both HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean (then known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering) displayed their proposal for the KDDX program.