South Korean frigate takes maritime Top Gun award during RIMPAC drills

A South Korean navy frigate took top honors in a live-fire competition among 13 warships during Rim of the Pacific, the recently concluded, monthlong naval exercise around Hawaii.

The ROKS Daejeon’s crew won the Top Gun award during the Naval Surface Fire Support Rodeo, according to a South Korean navy news release Sunday. RIMPAC, hosted by the U.S. Navy, is the world’s largest international naval exercise, according to the service.

The competition evaluates the participants’ naval gunfire accuracy. Warships from 10 countries competed in the gunnery event. Each fired five rounds from their 5-inch naval guns at a target 4½ miles away, according to the release.

The ship demonstrating the greatest accuracy wins the Top Gun award.

“We are very proud to have earned the honor of the Top Gun with my shipmates,” Senior Chief Petty Officer Joo Hyo-jin, who oversees the warship’s guns, said in the release.

Commander Lee Jung-soo of the South Korean frigate ROKS Daejeon accepts the Top Gun award from U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Jeffrey Jablon during Rim of the Pacific’s closing ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbo-Hickam, Hawaii, July 31, 2026. (South Korean navy)

Launched in 2021, the Daejeon is equipped the same Mark 45 Mod 4 naval gun carried by U.S. vessels, according to its manufacturer, BAE Systems. Named for a South Korean city, the vessel is also equipped with anti-ship missiles, tactical surface-to-surface missiles and a close-in weapon system.

The gunnery competition was held July 12, and the winner was announced Friday during RIMPAC’s closing ceremony.

The award marks South Korea’s second Top Gun, 16 years after the destroyer ROKS King Sejong won the competition in 2010, according to the South Korean navy.

“It is meaningful to be acknowledged on the international stage for South Korea’s advanced defense industry and the navy’s outstanding operational capabilities,” Cmdr. Lee Jung-soo, the Daejeon’s skipper, said in the release.

The six-week international maritime exercise brought together 30 nations in and around Hawaii. This year marked the 30th iteration of the exercise, which started in 1971.

South Korea this year served as the first Asian nation to command the exercise’s combined maritime component.