North Korea’s New Frigate Has 54 Percent More Firepower Than a European Destroyer: Choi Hyon Revolutionises Surface Navy

<p >The North Korean frigate Choi Hyon has officially been launched as the largest surface vessel ever constructed for the Korean People’s Army Navy, which represents a major landmark in the rejuvenation of the East Asian state’s surface warfare capabilities at a time when major strides in modernisation of the armed forces are being made. With an estimated displacement of 5000 tons, the Choi Hyon is one of the largest frigates in the world with a size comparable to those of smaller destroyers. It carries a particularly large arsenal relative to its displacement. The warship’s primary arsenal is an array of 74 vertical launch cells, providing comparable levels of firepower to much larger destroyers. To place this arsenal in perspective, the U.S. Navy’s <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/9billion-zumwalt-first-deployment-upgrades" target="_blank">Zumwalt Class destroyers</a> carry 80 vertical launch cells despite having displacements of over 14,000 tons, while the British Royal Navy’s <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/british-type-45-destroyers-cant-do-ballistic-missile-defence-small-arsenals-have-limited-versatility" target="_blank">Type 45 Class destroyers</a> carry just 48 vertical launch cells despite having displacements of 8,500 tons. The U.S. Navy’s upcoming Constellation Class frigates, which are particularly large at 7,300 tons, will carry just 32 launch cells. The Choi Hyon’s launch cells are not only much more densely packed, but also include 20 particularly large launch cells expected to carry ballistic missiles.</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/04/28/article_680ecf7bb3af44_34976162.JPG" title="Launch Ceremony of KPA Navy Warship Choi Hyon "></p><p >The Choi Hyon is confirmed to be capable of operating an air defence role, fuelling speculation that the ship integrates a derivative of the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/north-korea-test-firing-s400-similar-air-defence" target="_blank">Pyongae-6</a> long range air defence system that was first unveiled in 2020. It is otherwise expected to carry both cruise and ballistic missiles for roles including anti-shipping, strikes on surface targets, and possibly the delivery of nuclear attacks. Many of the shipbuilding techniques developed for the latest generation of frigates are likely to have first been put to use developing the country’s <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/nkorea-surface-navy-amnok-missile" target="_blank">Amnok Class corvettes</a>, two of which are currently in service with similar modern vertical launch cells and advanced cruise missile strike capabilities. Unlike the Amnok Class, the Choi Hyun is expected to operate outside Korean waters and potentially far out into the Pacific, which will likely pose greater complications to defence planners in the United States due to the offensive missile arsenals the ship can carry. North Korea has since the end of the Cold War placed a low emphasis on its surface navy, and instead focused on developing its submarine fleet and other assets that provide asymmetric defensive value. Renewed investment in the country’s surface navy provides one of many indications that the country’s economic standing has largely recovered and that its defence budget can now accommodate the procurement costly conventional assets. </p>

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