(July 22, 2009) Officials from United States-based Lockheed Martin and Hyundai Heavy Industries said yesterday they would jointly produce an Aegis midsized high-tech guided missile vessel and sell it to a third country.

Lockheed Martin developed the Aegis combat system on the 7,600-ton warship King Sejong the Great, the first South Korean Aegis ship. This will be the first time it has worked with a foreign company to build such a vessel for sale to a third party.

“In building the King Sejong with Hyundai Heavy Industries, we learned of South Korea’s outstanding shipbuilding skills,” an official at Lockheed Martin said. “We suggested to Hyundai that we develop a midsized Aegis warship between 4,000 tons and 6,000 tons.”

A Hyundai Heavy Industries official said the feeling was mutual.

“We’ve been cooperating with Lockheed Martin for four years and we’ve agreed to discuss exporting our product to India, among others,” the official said. “Working together on the King Sejong led to this result.”

The Hyundai official explained that for South Korea, surrounded by regional powers such as Japan and China, a full-fledged Aegis destroyer is a must, but added that Southeast Asian and South Asian regions could do with smaller vessels.

The South Korean shipbuilder will manufacture the vessel and then Lockheed Martin will equip it with its SPY-1F multifunction naval radar. It’s smaller in size than the SPY-1D radar on the King Sejong, and thus is less expensive.

The SPY-1F lags behind the SPY-1D in detecting and tracking ballistic missiles but performs all radar and guidance functions for Standard Missile-2 and other missiles on the Aegis ships. Norway’s Fridtjof Nansen, the smallest Aegis vessel in existence, is equipped with SPY-1F.

Lockheed Martin has a lineup of SPY-1 radar series that also includes SPY-1K. According to the company’s Web site, a SPY-1 multifunction radar system replaces several conventional sensors, including surface search and fire control quality tracking radars. The radar thus allows for a more integrated and efficient weapon system.

Lockheed Martin said it will also strengthen its efforts to export the South Korean T-50 supersonic trainer in partnership with the Korea Aerospace Industries, a state-run aircraft builder.

An official with Lockheed Martin said marketing the T-50 is among its key strategic business projects this year. “We’re pursuing a project where Lockeed Martin would train pilots for T-50s, using its training program,” the official said.

By Kim Min-seok, Yoo Jee-ho [jeeho@joongang.co.kr]