Ticonderoga class cruiser

Ticonderoga class cruisers are the first warships in the world to use phased-array radar; the increased combat capability offered by the AEGIS combat system and the AN/SPY-1 radar system justified the changing of the classification of Ticonderoga and Yorktown from DDG (guided missile destroyer) to CG (guided missile cruiser). Vincennes and Valley Forge may or may not have been authorized as DDGs; regardless, the DDG sequence continued with USS Arleigh Burke as DDG-51.

Related Topics:
''Ticonderoga'' - Cruiser - Warship - AEGIS combat system - AN/SPY-1 - USS ''Arleigh Burke''

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In addition to the added radar capability, the Ticonderoga class built after Thomas S. Gates are outfitted with two Vertical Launching System (or VLS). The two VLS systems allow the ship to have 127 launch tubes that can carry a wide variety of missiles, including the Tomahawk cruise missile, the Standard surface-to-air missile, and the ASROC anti-submarine missile. However, more importantly, the VLS system enables all missiles to be fully standing by at any given time, shortening the ship's reaction time. The rest have MK. 26 twin arm launchers.

Related Topics:
Radar - Vertical Launching System - Tomahawk - Cruise missile - Standard - Surface-to-air missile - ASROC

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Four of the five twin-arm "Ticos" have been decommissioned; the fifth, Thomas S. Gates is scheduled to be decommissioned in November 2005.

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The newer 22 of the 27 ships (CG-52 to CG-73) in the class will be upgraded to keep them combat-relevant, giving the ships a service life of 35 years each http://www.navysite.de/cg/cg47class.htm.

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One ship of the class, USS Vincennes, became infamous in 1988 when she shot down Iran Air Flight 655 resulting in 290 civilian fatalities, which the captain of Vincennes had believed from radar returns was an Iran Air Force F-14 Tomcat jet fighter on an attack vector. Vincennes was later decommissioned in 2005.

Related Topics:
USS ''Vincennes'' - Iran Air Flight 655 - Iran Air Force - F-14 Tomcat - 2005

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Of the "Ticos", at least five (Ticonderoga, Yorktown, Valley Forge, Antietam and Princeton) share names with World War II aircraft carriers. Only one, Thomas S. Gates, is not named for a battle.

Related Topics:
Yorktown - Valley Forge - Antietam - Princeton

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