SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Yonhap) -- The state arms procurement agency was set to open a land-based test facility Thursday to verify a key combat system to be mounted on South Korea's next-generation Navy destroyers under development, officials said.
The opening ceremony of the Land Based Test System for the next-generation destroyers will be held later in the day at the Samcheok Maritime Research Center under the Agency for Defense Development, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
It marks the largest on-ground test center in South Korea for destroyers' combat systems. The test base is scheduled to officially launch operations in 2027.
The 6,700-square-meter facility is expected to help detect any technical problems of the combat system in advance before it is mounted on the Korea Destroyer Next Generation (KDDX) destroyers.
Under the KDDX project, South Korea will build six 7,000-ton-class Aegis destroyers equipped with key weapons systems using domestically developed technologies.
The combat system, an integral part of such a destroyer, detects and responds to enemy threats by integrating various sensors, communication and navigation systems mounted on the vessel.
The envisioned next-generation destroyers are expected to become one of the Navy's core strategic assets, offering capabilities comparable with those of the 7,100-ton King Sejong the Great-class Aegis destroyers, currently the service's most powerful warships.
DAPA plans to utilize the test base to develop advanced technology for combat systems in the long run as part of efforts to reduce dependency on foreign technology.
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