ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser- seaforces online

HOME | US Navy - ships | US Navy - air units | USMC - air units | International Navies | Weapon Systems | Special Reports

 
 
US Navy
Ticonderoga class Guided Missile Cruiser - CG
 
 

 
 
Ships:
 
ships with Mk-26 missile launchers
CG 47
USS Ticonderoga (1983)
CG 48
USS Yorktown (1984)
CG 49
USS Vincennes (1985)
CG 50
USS Valley Forge (1986)
CG 51
USS Thomas S. Gates (1987)

ships with Mk-41 Vertical Launching System / VLS
CG 52
USS Bunker Hill (1986)
CG 53
USS Mobile Bay (1987)
CG 54
USS Antietam (1987)
CG 55
USS Leyte Gulf (1987)
CG 56
USS San Jacinto (1988)
CG 57
USS Lake Champlain (1988)
CG 58
USS Philippine Sea (1989)
CG 59
USS Princeton (1989)
CG 60
USS Normandy (1989)
CG 61
USS Monterey (1990)
CG 62
USS Chancellorsville (1989)
CG 63
USS Cowpens (1991)
CG 64 USS Gettysburg (1991)
CG 65
USS Chosin (1991)
CG 66
USS Hue City (1991)
CG 67
USS Shiloh (1992)
CG 68
USS Anzio (1992)
CG 69
USS Vicksburg (1992)
CG 70
USS Lake Erie (1993)
CG 71
USS Cape St. George (1993)
CG 72
USS Vella Gulf (1993)
CG 73
USS Port Royal (1994)
 
 
Specifications:
 
Displacement: 9800 tons (full load)
Length: 173 meters (567 ft)
Beam: 16,8 meters (55 ft)
Draft: 10,2 meters (34 ft)
Speed: 32.5 knots (60 km/h)
Range: 6000 NM (11000km) at 20 knots (37 km/h) / 3300 NM (6100 km) at 30 knots (56 km/h)

Complement: 330
 
Propulsion:
4 x General Electric LM2500 gas turbines (80000 shp)
2 shafts, 2 controllable-reversible pitch (CRP) propellers, 2 rudders

  
Armament:

Missile launcher (CG 47-51)
2 x
Mk-26 Guided Missile Launching Systems (GMLS)
(1 forward / 1 aft = 2 x 44 missiles) for a mix of:
 
RIM-66 Standard Missiles SM-2MR
RUR-5 ASROC anti submarine rocket

Missile launcher (CG 52-73)
2 x
Mk-41 Vertical Launching Systems / VLS
(1 forward / 1 aft = 2 x 61 cells) for a mix of:
 
BGM-109 Tomahawk
RIM-66M-5 Standard Missile SM-2MR
RIM-67/RIM-156A Standard Missile SM-2ER
RIM-161 Standard Missile SM-3
RIM-174 Standard ERAM
RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow (ESSM)
RUM-139 Vertical Launch ASROC

common armament (CG 47-73)
2 x
Mk-45 (Mod.1/2) 5”/54 guns
2 x
Mk-141 missile launcher for up to 8 RGM-84 Harpoon SSM
2 x
Mk-15 Phalanx CIWS
2 x
Mk-32 surface vessel torpedo tubes (SVTT) for 6 Mk-46, Mk-50 or Mk-54 torpedos
2 x
Mk-38 machine gun systems (MGS)
 
+ caliber .50 (12,7 mm) and 7,62 mm MG’s
    
 
Aviation:
landing deck and hangar for 2 helicopters (MH-60S, MH-60R Seahawk)

Systems:
AN/SPY-1A/B multi-function radar
AN/SPS-49 air search radar
AN/SPG-62 fire control radar
AN/SPS-73 surface search radar
AN/SPQ-9A gun fire control radar
AN/URN-25 tactical air navigation system (TACAN)
AN/SPS-64 navigation radar
AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite
 
AN/SQQ-89(V)1/3 - A(V)15 Sonar suite, consisting of:
- AN/SQS-53B/C/D active sonar (bow)
- AN/SQR-19 TACTAS, AN/SQR-19B ITASS, & MFTA passive sonar
   
Mark 36 SRBOC decoy system
AN/SLQ-25 Nixie towed torpedo decoy system
 
AN/SQQ-28 light airborne multi-purpose system (LAMPS)
 
 
Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers (CG) are multi-role warships. Their Mk-41 Vertical Launching System (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 antisubmarine 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. With upgrades to their AN/SPY-1 phased radar systems and their associated missile payloads as part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, members of this class have, in successive tests, repeatedly demonstrated their proficiency as mobile anti-ballistic missile and anti-satellite weaponry platforms.

Of the 27 completed vessels, 19 were built by Ingalls Shipbuilding and eight by Bath Iron Works (BIW). All but one (Thomas S. Gates) of the ships in the class are named for noteworthy events in U.S. military history, and at least twelve share their names with World War II-era aircraft carriers. In 2016, 22 ships were still active and expected to serve for 35 years since commissioning.

The Ticonderoga-class cruiser's design was based on that of the Spruance-class destroyer. The Ticonderoga class introduced a new generation of guided missile warships based on the Aegis phased array radar that is capable of simultaneously scanning for threats, tracking targets, and guiding missiles to interception. When they were designed, they had the most powerful electronic warfare equipment in the U.S. Navy, as well as the most advanced underwater surveillance system. These ships were one of the first classes of warships to be built in modules, rather than being assembled from the bottom up.

The greater size and equipment on the CG-47 class warships increased displacement from 6900 tons of the DD-963 class destroyers to 9600 tons of displacement for the heavier cruisers. Aegis cruisers can steam in any ocean and conduct multi-warfare operations anywhere. Some cruisers reported some structural problems in early service after extended periods in extremely heavy seas; they were generally corrected from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. Several ships had superstructure cracks, which were repaired.

These ships' superstructures were a modification of that on the Spruance-class destroyers and were required to support two deck-houses (one forward for antennas forward and starboard), and the aft deck-house housed the aft and port antenna arrays. The later Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers are designed from the keel up to carry the SPY-1D radars and have them all clustered together on the forward deck-house, saving space and weight and simplifying cooling requirements. Radar support equipment is closer together, minimizing cable runs and concentrating support equipment.

Operations research was used to study manpower requirements on the Ticonderoga class. It was found that four officers and 44 enlisted sailors could be removed from the ship's complement by removing traditional posts that had been made obsolete. However, manpower savings achieved by eliminating the very manpower-intensive Mk 26 GMLS and replacing it with the far more capable and versatile Mk 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) were harder to emulate with the Mk 45 127 mm (5") gun systems. The Aegis Cruisers are "double-enders", and along with the Zumwalt-class, are the only surface combatants in the fleet that can employ two large caliber guns simultaneously.

Vertical Launching System (VLS):
In addition to the added radar capability, the Ticonderoga-class ships built after USS Thomas S. Gates included two Mark 41 Vertical Launching Systems (VLS). The two VLS allow the ship to have 122 missile storage and launching tubes that can carry a wide variety of missiles, including the Tomahawk cruise missile, Standard surface-to-air missile, Evolved Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile, and ASROC antisubmarine warfare (ASW) guided rockets. More importantly, the VLS enables all missiles to be on full standby at any given time, shortening the warship's response time before firing. The original five ships (Ticonderoga, Yorktown, Vincennes, Valley Forge, and Thomas S. Gates) had Mark 26 twin-arm launchers that limited their missile capacity to a total of 88 missiles, and that could not fire the Tomahawk missile. After the end of the Cold War, the lower capabilities of the original five warships limited them to duties close to the home waters of the United States.

A standard missile loadout for a Ticonderoga cruiser is 80 SM-2 SAMs, 16 ASROC anti-submarine rockets, and 26 Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Upgrades:
Originally, the U.S. Navy had intended to replace its fleet of Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers with cruisers produced as part of the CG(X) missile cruiser program; however, severe budget cuts from the 21st century surface combatant program coupled with the increasing cost of the Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyer program resulted in the CG(X) program being canceled. The Ticonderoga-class cruisers were instead to be replaced by Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers.

All five of the twin-arm (Mk-26) cruisers have been decommissioned. In 2003, the newer 22 of the 27 ships (CG-52 to CG-73) in the class were upgraded to keep them combat-relevant, giving the ships a service life of 35 years. In the years leading up to their decommissioning, the five twin-arm ships had been assigned primarily home-waters duties, acting as command ships for destroyer squadrons assigned to the eastern Pacific and western Atlantic areas.

As of July 2013 12 cruisers have completed hull, mechanical, and electrical (HM&E) upgrades and 8 cruisers have had combat systems upgrades. These include an upgrade of the AEGIS computational system with new computers and equipment cabinets, the SPQ-9B radar system upgrade introducing an increased capability over just gunfire control, some optical fiber data communications and software upgrades, and modifications to the vertical launch system allowing two 8 cell modules to fire the RIM-162 ESSM. The most recent upgrade packages will include SM-6 and Naval Integrated Fire Control - Counter Air (NIFC-CA) capability. Another upgrade is improving the SQQ-89A(V)15 sonar with a multi-function towed array. Hull, sonar, radar, electrical, computer, and weapons systems upgrades can cost up to $250 million per ship.

In its 2015 budget request, the Navy outlined a plan to operate 11 cruisers, while the other 11 were upgraded to a new standard. The upgraded cruisers would then start replacing the older ships, which would be retired starting in 2019. This would retain one cruiser per CVN group to host the group's air warfare commander, a role for which the DDGs do not have sufficient facilities. Flight III Arleigh Burke destroyers equipped with the Air Missile Defense Radar give enhanced coverage, but putting the radar on standard DDG hulls does not allow enough room for extra staff and command and control facilities for the air warfare commander; DDGs can be used tactically for air defense, but they augment CGs that provide command and control in a battle group and are more used for other missions such as defending other fleet units and keeping sea lanes open. Congress opposed the plan on the grounds that it makes it easier for Navy officials to completely retire the ships once out of service; the Navy would have to retire all cruisers from the fleet by 2028 if all are kept in service, while deactivating half and gradually returning them into service could make 11 cruisers last from 2035 to 2045. There is no current CG replacement program, as most funding is committed to the Ohio Replacement Submarine, so work on a new cruiser is expected to begin in the mid-2020s, and begin fielding by the mid-2030s.

source: wikipedia (04/19)


construction evolution:
 
class + detail images
(for more images go to the individual ship pages)
 
 
| seaforces.org | USN ships start page |