HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, which trailed Hanwha Ocean in the proposal evaluation for the Korea Destroyer Next Generation (KDDX) detailed design and lead ship construction program, filed an objection to the results. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries led in technical capability points but fell behind in the total score because a 1.2-point security deduction was applied; the move is seen as an attempt to re-examine that deduction.
On the 22nd, according to the industry, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries submitted an objection to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration over the evaluation results for the KDDX detailed design and lead ship construction program. The company received a debriefing, the procedure to explain the results, but is said to have filed the objection believing additional clarification is needed.
In the evaluation, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries scored 0.6425 points higher than Hanwha Ocean in technical capability. However, with a 1.2-point security deduction applied in connection with a military secrets leak case, it received a total score of 93.3675. Hanwha Ocean posted a total score of 93.9542, outpacing HD Hyundai Heavy Industries by 0.5867 points.
The industry views the objection as largely a challenge to the appropriateness of the security deduction. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries earlier sought a court injunction to block the extension of the deduction, but it was dismissed, and the company has appealed. With this objection added, the dispute over selecting the KDDX contractor is expected to continue.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration aims to select a preferred negotiating partner as early as early next month after follow-up procedures, and to sign a contract in late next month or early Aug.
KDDX is a program to build six 6,000-ton destroyers with domestic technology at a total cost of 7.8 trillion won. Naval shipbuilding programs typically proceed in the order of concept design, basic design, detailed design and lead ship construction, and follow-on ship construction. For KDDX, Hanwha Ocean handled the concept design, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries handled the basic design.
Originally, KDDX was to complete basic design in Dec. 2023 and begin detailed design and lead ship construction in 2024. But as competition between the two companies overheated, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration could not reach a conclusion, and the program schedule was delayed by about two years.