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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has decided to move forward with the distribution of the request for proposal (RFP) for the Korean Next-Generation Destroyer (KDDX) project, despite a court injunction filed by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.
According to industry sources on March 26, DAPA plans to distribute the KDDX RFP to both HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean as scheduled. The agency’s decision reflects concerns over prolonged project delays, signaling its intent to adhere to the existing timeline.
DAPA is expected to proceed with the RFP issuance while preparing contingency measures. Should the court grant the injunction, the agency may retrieve or restrict access to relevant materials included in the RFP.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, which led the basic design phase of the KDDX project, filed the injunction arguing that the RFP contains proprietary information and trade secrets that should not be disclosed to its competitor, Hanwha Ocean.
The RFP outlines operational requirements and invites bidders to propose execution plans. It also includes reference materials derived from the basic design phase.
The KDDX program is a KRW 7.04 trillion initiative aimed at designing and building six 6,000-ton-class next-generation destroyers—often referred to as “mini Aegis ships”—using domestic technology. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries completed the basic design in December 2023, with the next phase involving detailed design and construction of the lead ship.
Although the original plan called for immediate transition to the next phase following completion of the basic design, the project has been delayed by nearly two years due to disagreements over the contractor selection process.
In December last year, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration Steering Committee finalized a competitive bidding process for selecting the contractor for the detailed design and lead ship construction. The updated project framework reflecting this decision was approved on the same day.
DAPA aims to select the contractor by July and sign the contract between July and August. However, if the court upholds the injunction filed by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, the timeline for proposal submission and contractor selection could face further delays.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
