Arleigh Burke class destroyer
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The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers, one of the destroyer classes of the United States Navy, are built around the Aegis combat system and the SPY-1D multi-function phased array radar. The first ship was commissioned on 4 July 1991. With the decommissioning of the last Spruance-class destroyer, USS Cushing, on September 21, 2005, the Arleigh Burke class ships are the only currently active class of destroyers in the Navy.
The Arleigh Burke class are among the largest and most powerful destroyers ever built. (The larger Ticonderoga class were constructed as destroyers, but were subsequently redesignated as cruisers.) According to Bath Iron Works promotional material, Arleigh Burke is, ton-for-ton, the most powerful warship ever built.
The class is named for Admiral Arleigh "31-Knot" Burke, the most famous destroyer officer of World War II. Admiral Burke was alive when the class leader was commissioned, and his words to the plank crew echo in the class' distinguished service to date: "This ship is built to fight; you'd better know how."
One Arleigh Burke class ship has been damaged by enemy action: Cole was damaged and almost sunk by an improvised explosive device delivered by a suicide boat in October 2000 in Aden, Yemen (see USS Cole bombing). The ship was repaired and returned to action in 2001.
The greatly improved "Flight IIA Arleigh Burke" class ship, a major alteration of the class which significantly changed the ship's layout including the addition of two helicopter hangars for improved ASW fighting capability, began with Oscar Austin. The Flight IIA Burke also received improved surface fighting and shore bombardment capability with the introduction of the longer 5 inch (127 mm) /62 caliber gun on Winston S. Churchill. Some sources have argued that the Flight IIA ships are different enough from the Flight I/II ship that it should be renamed the Oscar Austin class destroyer.
The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force operates four modified Flight I vessels as the Kongo class. Three more will be commissioned by 2010, these will be upgraded to Flight IIA standard.
In August 2005, the Australian Government announced that the a variant of the Arleigh Burke was the 'preferred design' for the Air Warfare Destroyer (SEA 4000) project in which three new destroyers are to be built for the Royal Australian Navy. The three ships will be named HMAS Hobart, HMAS Brisbane and HMAS Sydney and are scheduled to enter service from 2013.
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General Characteristics
- Builders: General Dynamics, Bath Iron Works Division and Northrop Grumman Ship Systems
- Power Plant: 4 × General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines; two shafts, 100,000 total shaft horsepower (75 MW).
- SPY-1 Radar and Combat System Integrator: Lockheed Martin
- Length
- Flights I and II (51-78): 505 ft (154 m)
- Flight IIA (79-99): 509* ft (155 m)
- Beam: 59 ft (18 m)
- Displacement
- Hulls 51 through 71: 8315 tons full load
- Hulls 72 through 78: 8400 tons full load
- Hulls 79 and on: 9200 tons full load
- Speed: in excess of 30 knots (56 km/h)
- Aircraft: None. LAMPS III electronics installed on landing deck for coordinated DDG-51/helo ASW operations (hulls 51-78); two SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helos (hulls 79 on)
- Complement: 23 officers, 300 enlisted
- Armament: Standard missile; AGM-84 Harpoon; Vertical Launch ASROC (VLA) missiles; Tomahawk missiles; six Mk-46 torpedoes (from two triple tube mounts); one 5 inch (127 mm)/54-caliber Mk-45 (lightweight gun) (DDG-51 through 80); one 5 inch (127 mm)/62-caliber Mk-45 mod 4 (lightweight gun) (DDG-81 on); two 20 mm Phalanx CIWS (DDG-51 through 83); RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (DDG-84 onward)
- Date Deployed: 4 July, 1991 (Arleigh Burke)
Ships
| Arleigh Burke-class destroyer |
| Flight I ships: Arleigh Burke | Barry | John Paul Jones | Curtis Wilbur | Stout | John S. McCain | Mitscher | Laboon | Russell | Paul Hamilton | Ramage | Fitzgerald | Stethem | Carney | Benfold | Gonzalez | Cole | The Sullivans | Milius | Hopper | Ross |
| Flight II ships: Mahan | Decatur | McFaul | Donald Cook | Higgins | O'Kane | Porter |
| Flight IIA ships: 5"/54 variant: Oscar Austin | Roosevelt | 5"/62 variant: Winston S. Churchill | Lassen | Howard | Bulkeley | McCampbell | Shoup | Mason | Preble | Mustin | Chafee | Pinckney | Momsen | Chung-Hoon | Nitze | James E. Williams | Bainbridge | Halsey | Forrest Sherman | Farragut | Kidd | Gridley | Sampson | Truxtun | Sterett | Dewey | Stockdale |
| List of destroyers of the United States Navy List of destroyer classes of the United States Navy |
Additionally, DDG-106 through DDG-112 have been announced and awarded. The ships have not been named yet. DDG-112 will be the last of the class and is expected to be delivered in 2010.
Further reading
- Template:Cite book (Describes the construction of USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) at Bath Iron Works.)
de:Arleigh-Burke-Klasse ja:アーレイバーク級ミサイル駆逐艦 sl:Razred rušilcev arleigh burke