Choe Hyon-class destroyer

North Korea's first approximately 5,000-tonne guided-missile destroyer class, built to give the Korean People's Navy a large, missile-heavy multi-mission surface combatant.

Overview

The Choe Hyon class is the Korean People's Navy's first class of large multipurpose guided-missile destroyers and its first surface combatant reported to combine fixed-face phased-array radar with vertical-launch cells. At approximately 5,000 tonnes and 145 m long, the ships are substantially larger and more heavily armed than North Korea's previous surface combatants, although they remain about half the displacement of South Korea's Sejong the Great class and well below the size of an American Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, according to 38 North.

The lead ship, Choe Hyon (51), entered the West Sea Fleet in June 2026. The second ship, Kang Kon (52), was commissioned on the east coast in September 2026 after capsizing during its initial launch at Chongjin in May 2025. The class represents a major expansion of North Korean naval ambitions, but its operational value remains difficult to establish. The ships carry a large number of missile cells for their displacement, while propulsion performance, combat-system integration, missile identities, seakeeping, crew proficiency and sustained readiness are not publicly established. Naval News characterises the class as the largest, most advanced and most heavily armed warship yet operated by North Korea.

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