The country’s first Aegis destroyer, Sejong the Great, proved its might by successfully detecting the launch of a North Korean long-range rocket that was fired off on April 5.
“Sejong the Great had been stationed in the East Sea to monitor North Korea’s rocket activities and it successfully detected yesterday’s rocket launch,” an official said April 6. “This means the destroyer perfectly completed its first mission since its deployment.”
Commissioned on December 22, the 7,600-ton destroyer (DDG) had been undergoing tests to check the capability of its Aegis combat system until it was deployed to the East Sea on March 28 after the upper part of the North Korean rocket on a launch pad was exposed.
When the North Korean rocket was launched, there reportedly were Japanese and U.S. Aegis destroyers in the East Sea along with Sejong the Great, as well as an American AGM missile range instrumentation ship. Military official believe Sejong the Great fulfilled its mission as other Aegis destroyers of the U.S. and Japan by successfully detecting the launched rocket.
The South Korean destroyer is equipped with the latest version of the Aegis combat system, ‘Baseline (BL) 7.1R (Refresh),’ and SPY-ID (V) radar, which can detect and track any flying objects within 1,000 kilometers.
The radar is the latest and most advanced version of the SPY-1 series, and was detrimental in tracking North Korea’s long-range rocket this time. The radar is attached on the four sides of the destroyer’s bridge and each has 4,350 small radars that work as the eyes of a dragonfly. Each of these small radars discharges radar beams.
The radar can detect any flying objects, including ballistic missiles that fly at a speed of mach 8, within 1,000 kilometers. It can simultaneously track up to 900 targets within 500 kilometers and intercept any target within 170 kilometers.
In addition to the Aegis combat system, Sejong the Great is armed with a 5-inch main gun, the close-range defense system, ‘Goalkeeper,’ some 120 ship-to-ship, ship-to-air missiles and long-range anti-submarine missiles.
The destroyer, 166 meters by 21 meters, can do up to 30 knots and is said to have the top class anti-ship, anti-air and anti-submarine capabilities.
