USS Ticonderoga the first ship in the
class was commissioned in 1983. Built around the then new Aegis Combat System in a pair of twin mk
26 guided missile launchers, the Ticonderoga cruisers were designed to
protect carrier battle groups from
incoming swarms of soviet anti-ship
missiles. The sixth ship of the class uss bunker
hill traded the missile launchers for
122 vertical launch missile silos. All in all 27 were built, the end of the
cold war left the ships without a
mission and all of ships not equipped
with silos were retired.
Five of the remaining 22 ships have
taken on the additional duty of
ballistic missile defense, armed with an
advanced version of aegis and SM-3 block
em missile interceptors. Still the ships need expensive upgrades
to stay current and the navy has
repeatedly proposed mothballing them to
pay for new ships.
however the increased combat capability
offered by the aegis combat system in
the in Spy-1 radar system, together with
the capability of operating as a
flagship were used to justify the change
of the classification from DDG guided
missile destroyer to CG guided missile
cruiser shortly before the keels were
laid down for ticonderoga and yorktown.
Ticonderoga-class guided missile
cruisers are multi-role warships. Their MK-41 VLS can launch tomahawk
cruise missiles to strike strategic or
tactical targets or fire long-range
anti-aircraft standard missiles for
defense against aircraft or anti-ship
missiles. Their lamps III helicopters and sonar
systems allow them to perform and to
submarine missions. Ticonderoga-class ships are designed to
be elements of carrier battle groups or
amphibious ready groups, as well as
performing missions such as interdiction
or escort.
The navy had originally planned to
replace the ticonderogas with a program
called CG-21 that failed to produce
anything useful. A second attempt CGX also failed done in
by the ship's projected size and an
estimated six billion dollars for the
first ship, approximately half the cost
of an aircraft carrier. The navy now thinks it could start
building a new cruiser-sized ship in the
2030s just as the youngest of the ships
hits its 35-year projected lifespan.
In 2013 shipbuilder huntington ingalls
has proposed a cruiser-like ship based
on the hull of the san antonio-class
amphibious ships. the enormous 25,000 surface combatant
has 288 vertical launch missile silos
for air defense, missile defense, anti-submarine and anti-ship missiles
and provisions for rail and laser guns. The ship would mount an s-band radar to
detect ballistic missiles and flight
deck and hangar for helicopters.
Of the 27 completed vessels 19 were
built by Ingles Shipbuilding and eight
by Bath Iron Works (BIW) all but one Thomas S Gates. Oof the ships
in the class are named for noteworthy
events in u.s military history and at
least 12 share their names with World War II era aircraft carriers.
