South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) officially announced the bid for the KDDX next-generation destroyer program on March 23 and distributed the Request for Proposals (RFP) to HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean on March 26, marking a decisive step forward after more than two years of delays.
The two companies are the designated competitive bidders for the detailed design and lead ship construction of the Republic of Korea Navy’s first fully indigenous destroyer. DAPA will hold a project briefing for registered participants on March 31, with proposals due by May 15. Following evaluation, DAPA aims to select the winning contractor by July.
The KDDX program calls for six 6,000-ton class destroyers at a total cost of approximately 7.04 trillion KRW (around $4.9 billion). The detailed design and lead ship construction phase alone carries a budget of 882.1 billion KRW (approximately $615 million). DAPA plans to determine contractors for all six vessels sequentially, starting with the lead ship. The lead ship is scheduled to be delivered to the ROK Navy by the end of 2032.
Breaking the Deadlock
As previously reported, the KDDX program had been stalled for over two and a half years due to an intense dispute between South Korea’s two major shipbuilders over the contractor selection method. While HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, which conducted the basic design, argued for a sole-source contract in line with established convention, Hanwha Ocean pushed for competitive bidding, citing HD HHI’s military secrets leak scandal related to the KDDX program.
The deadlock broke in December 2025 when the Defense Acquisition Program Promotion Committee (DAAPC) voted for a competitive bidding process. DAPA then held a preliminary briefing on February 11 and approved the detailed design and lead ship construction master plan at the 173rd DAAPC meeting on February 23, leading to the recent bid announcement.
The outcome of the competition may hinge on a security penalty imposed on HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. The company received a 1.8-point security deduction, applied through November 2025, following its employees’ conviction for violating the Military Secrets Protection Act in connection with the KDDX program.
DAPA is now reviewing whether to apply an additional 1.2-point deduction based on a separate appeals court ruling that was finalized later. In defense procurement evaluations, where outcomes are often decided by fractions of a point, such penalties could be critical since both companies are major builders of the ROK Navy’s fleet. HD HHI has characterized any additional penalty as double jeopardy and has signaled it may pursue legal action if the extra deduction is imposed. A DAPA official noted that the final determination on security penalties will be communicated to the bidders during the proposal evaluation phase.
About KDDX
KDDX is designed to be the ROK Navy’s first destroyer with domestically developed combat systems and hull design. With a light displacement of 7,100 tons, the vessel will feature an Integrated Electric Propulsion System (IEPS), a stealth-optimized hull with an Integrated Mast (I-MAST) housing a dual-band S/X phased array Multi-Function Radar, and a Korean Vertical Launch System (KVLS-I & KVLS-II) capable of operating indigenous missiles including the K-SAAM for short-range defense and the Ship-to-Air Missile-II, a long-range naval air defense missile currently under development by LIG Nex1.
The six KDDX destroyers are intended to serve as core assets of the ROK Navy’s Task Fleet Command. According to the original fleet structure plan, each Task Squadron will comprise one Jeongjo the Great-class (KDX-III Batch-II) and one Sejong the Great-class (KDX-III Batch-I) Aegis destroyer, two Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class destroyers, and two KDDX vessels.
With the bid now officially announced, the long-awaited decision for KDDX’s detailed design and lead ship construction is underway. Whether the program proceeds on schedule will largely depend on DAPA’s handling of unresolved issues, as well as how both bidders respond to the final outcome.
