Hanwha Systems Installs Homegrown Ship Engine Control System on ROK Navy Destroyer Yang Manchun

ROK Navy sailors operate the integrated engine control system equipment aboard the destroyer Yang Manchun. — ROK Navy sailors operate integrated engine control system equipment aboard the destroyer Yang Manchun. [Photo=Hanwha Systems]

A domestically developed integrated engine control system, or ECS, has been installed for the first time on an operational naval ship in South Korea, replacing a key component that had largely relied on foreign suppliers.

Hanwha Systems said it held a ceremony on the 30th at Jinhae Port in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, with the Navy and the Defense Rapid Acquisition Technology Research Institute to mark completion of a performance upgrade for the Yang Manchun (DDH-I) integrated engine control system.

The Yang Manchun is a 3,200-ton helicopter-capable destroyer built under the KDX-I program along with the Gwanggaeto the Great and Eulji Mundeok. Under the project, the ship’s system was replaced with Hanwha Systems’ domestically produced integrated engine control system. The ship previously used equipment from overseas suppliers.

Often described as a ship’s “heart,” the integrated engine control system manages propulsion, power, auxiliary equipment and damage-control systems through a single network.

Hanwha Systems said the ECS is considered a core system for future ships aimed at unmanned operation, advanced intelligence and automation, alongside the combat management system, or CMS — described as the ship’s “brain” — that the company installed on the Yang Manchun in 2020.

The company said the ECS effort was developed through civil-government-military cooperation. Hanwha Systems has worked since 2014 to secure key technologies in stages, collaborating with the Navy, the Defense Rapid Acquisition Technology Research Institute, the Korea Institute of Defense Technology Promotion and Research, and the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials on defense core-technology projects.

Hanwha Systems said it is currently the only company in South Korea with both domestically developed CMS and ECS technologies, and that full compatibility between the two has also enabled it to secure cockpit-style integrated bridge system, or IBS, technology.

“K-ship unmanned operation and advanced capabilities will be brought forward through continued technology development, and we will work to have our unique competitiveness recognized in the global naval defense market,” said Yoo Moon-ki, head of Hanwha Systems’ naval business division.

* This article has been translated by AI.

Oh Jooseok