South Korea has narrowed the field for its new KDX-3 destroyers to a European team (Thales Naval Nederland) and a US team (Lockheed Martin and the US Navy). Eliminated from the competition was the British team, with its Samson radar; this was a major blow for British Aerospace. The South Korean Navy has always referred to the KDX-3 as its "aegis destroyer" and wanted to simply buy the SPY-1D without competition. The government insisted on a competition, however, in bid to hold the price down. The European team is offering a version of the German F124 frigate with the European APAR multi-function radar. Thales is a primary contractor on the KDX-1 and KDX-2 destroyers.--Stephen V Cole