Ticonderoga Class Guided Missile Cruiser United States US Navy CG 47 cruiser Bunker hill Mobile Bay Antietam Normandy Leyte Gulf San Jacinto Lake Champlain Philippine Sea Anzio Shiloh datasheet pictures photos video specifications

The Ticonderoga-class Guided Missile Cruiser is the last cruiser class in service in US Navy. 27 Ticonderoga-class Cruiser have been completed between 1980 and 1992. The five first of the class have already been decommissioned. The Ticonderoga cruisers were the first ship in the world to be equipped with the AEGIS Combat System based upon a passive electronically scanned array radar. 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 (the shield of Athena in greek mythology) 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.

An important evolution has been made after the fifth cruiser. The five first Ticonderoga cruisers were equipped with two Mk 26 missile launchers, one fore and one aft. With the Mk 26, two missiles could be on the rails and it could sustain a 9 second firing rate with a one second salvo delay. From the launch of the Bunker Hill, the Ticonderoga cruisers have been fittef with Mk 41 Vertical Launch System. With this system, any missile could be on standby to fire at a given time with a faster firing rate.

The Ticonderoga Class Cruisers (CGs) with AEGIS Baseline 5.3.9 (CG 67, CG 70, CG 72, CG 73) and Baseline 3A (CG 61, CG 63, and CG 64) are authorized to employ SM-6 BLK I. CGs that have AEGIS Baseline 9A (CG 59, CG 60 , and CG 62) are scheduled to be authorized to employ SM-6 BLK I in 2QFY15. Ticonderoga Class Cruisers (CGs) with AEGIS Baseline 5.3.9 can also deploy RIM-161 (SM-3) anti-ballistic Missiles.

» Long range, area air defense
» ASW, AAW, ASUW, EW
» Strike against land targets
» Long range patrol and surveillance
» Escort of high value assets such as Aircraft Carrier and Amphibious Vessels