Leonardo DRS to power South Korea's newest destroyer

Leonardo DRS will build the electric propulsion system for South Korea’s next-generation KDDX destroyer, the company announced, supplying technology for what will be the Republic of Korea Navy’s first full-electric-drive surface warship.

DRS signed the contract with Doosan Enerbility, which will work alongside the American company to build the ship’s complete power and propulsion system, covering everything from the prime movers that generate power to the propellers that turn it into thrust. DRS is providing its 100-Series permanent magnet propulsion motors paired with matching variable-frequency drives, hardware the company says is built to be more compact and power-dense than older electric drive systems. Hanwha Ocean is building the lead ship under a separate contract with South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration.

Electric propulsion lets a ship dedicate more of its power to sensors and weapons rather than the mechanical drivetrain connecting engines directly to propellers, an arrangement that matters more as warships add power-hungry equipment. “Our advanced electric-propulsion technologies are designed to deliver the power capacity, efficiency, reliability and adaptability required for advanced radars, advanced EW systems, directed energy systems, the charging of unmanned vehicles, the launch of drone swarms and other increasingly power-intensive mission capabilities,” said John Baylouny, president and chief executive officer of Leonardo DRS.

The KDDX program is South Korea’s first indigenously designed and built destroyer class, intended to fill the gap between the Navy’s 4,200-ton KDX-II destroyers and its larger KDX-III Sejong the Great-class Aegis ships, while replacing the aging three-ship KDX-I Gwanggaeto the Great class. The full program covers six destroyers of roughly 6,000 to 7,000 tons and about 155 meters (509 feet) in length, at a total program cost estimated near 7.8 trillion won, or roughly $5.7 billion. South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration awarded Hanwha Ocean the detailed design and lead-ship construction contract in July 2026, worth about $580 million, after the company narrowly beat rival HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in a competitive scoring process that followed more than two years of delay over how the contract should be awarded. The lead ship is due for delivery by 2032, with the remaining five ships following by around 2036.

The destroyers are planned to carry mostly Korean-made systems, including a domestic combat management system, Hanwha Systems’ integrated mast, a dual-band active electronically scanned array radar, and Korean vertical launch systems. Propulsion for the class appears to combine gas turbines with the new electric drive system: GE Aerospace said on Sept. 1 that it would supply 12 LM2500+G4 marine gas turbines across the six ships, with Hanwha Aerospace manufacturing engine components, assembling the turbines, and providing local support.

DRS’s role builds on a longer relationship with the Republic of Korea Navy. The company has supplied hybrid electric drive systems for 20 anti-submarine warfare frigates across the Navy’s FFX Batch II, III and IV programs over more than a decade, and has scaled similar propulsion technology for the U.S. Navy’s Columbia-class submarine program. “For more than a decade our systems have supported Republic of Korea Navy FFX II/III/IV frigates, and we have demonstrated the ability to scale our electric-propulsion technology for the most demanding naval applications, including the COLUMBIA-class submarine program,” said Jon Miller, senior vice president and general manager of Naval Power Systems at Leonardo DRS.

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