Hanwha Ocean picked as preferred bidder for $5.1 bil. Navy destroyer project

Hanwha Ocean Co. said Thursday it has been selected as the preferred bidder for Korea's next-generation Navy destroyer project worth 7.8 trillion won ($5.1 billion). In a regulatory filing, Hanwha Ocean said the state-run Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) notified the company of the selection on Wednesday. Hanwha Ocean beat rival HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. to lead the Korea Destroyer Next Generation (KDDX) program, which aims to build six next-generation destroyers using domestically developed technologies. The envisioned 6,000-ton-class Aegis destroyers are expected to become one of the Navy's core strategic assets, offering capabilities comparable to those of the 7,100-ton King Sejong the Great-class Aegis destroyers, currently the service's most powerful warships. Thursday's announcement caps a grueling two-year delay for the KDDX project that had been locked in a fierce legal dispute between the two rivals. The dispute erupted after several HD Hyundai employees were convicted between 2022 and 2023 for stealing Hanwha's initial KDDX conceptual designs. The breach pr