Rolls-Royce is touting the passage of acceptance tests by its first MT30 gas turbine engine for the Republic of Korea Navy's FFX frigate program.

The engine, the "world's most power-dense marine gas turbine," will power eight Block II FFX ships being built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.

The MT30 is derived from Rolls-Royce aero engine technology, and produces 36 to 40 megawatts. It already powers the U.S. Navy's Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships and will power the U.S. Navy's DDG-1000 Zumwalt class destroyer, as well as Britain's Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and Type 26 frigates.

"The MT30 is becoming the gas turbine of choice for many of the world's major naval program, with its inherent reliability and power density driving its selection," said Don Roussinos, Rolls-Royce' president of its Naval business. "The FFX II program is significant in that it will be the first application for the MT30 outside of the UK and US markets, and also the first ship to use a single MT30, alongside diesels."

Rolls-Royce said the MT30 engine will be shipped to Korea, where Hyundai Heavy Industries will integrate it into a steel enclosure which also houses the air inlets, exhausts and ancillary equipment.