Cruiser

SURFPAC's Ticonderoga class Cruiser (CG) Info Page

Cruisers - CG

Description

Large combat vessel with multiple target response capability.

Features

Modern U.S. Navy guided missile cruisers perform primarily in a Battle Force role. These ships are multi-mission [Air Warfare (AW), Undersea Warfare (USW), Naval Surface Fire Support (NSFS) and Surface Warfare (SUW)] surface combatants capable of supporting carrier battle groups, amphibious forces, or of operating independently and as flagships of surface action groups.

Cruisers are equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles giving them additional long range Strike Warfare (STRW) capability. Some Aegis Cruisers have been outfitted with a Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) capability.

Background

Technological advances in the Standard Missile coupled with the Aegis combat system in the Ticonderoga class Cruisers have increased the AAW capability of surface combatants to pinpoint accuracy from wave-top to zenith. The addition of Tomahawk in the C G-47 has vastly complicated unit target planning for any potential enemy and returned an offensive strike role to the surface forces that seemed to have been lost to air power at Pearl Harbor.

The lead ship of the class, USS Ticonderoga (C G 47) through C G-51 have been decommissioned. Over the next several years, 22 Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers will undergo a structured modernization to ensure they reach their projected 35-year service life. C ruiser Modernization program aims to improve the C G-47 Ticonderoga class by modernizing the computing and display infrastructure, and the Hull, Mechanical and Electrical (HM&E) systems. Weapons and sensor sets will also be improved, in order to upgrade their anti-submarine capabilities, add short range electro-optical systems that can monitor the ship’s surroundings without the use of radar emissions, as well as routine machinery upgrades to improve all areas of ship functionality. The modernized cruisers are expected to become more cost efficient to operate, as their lives are extended to serve in the fleet through the year 2030.

Point Of Contact

Corporate Communications Office
Naval Sea Systems Command (SEA 00D)
Washington, D.C . 20376

General Characteristics, Ticonderoga Class

Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding: C G 47-50, C G 52-57, 59, 62, 65-66, 68-69, 71-73
Bath Iron Works: C G 51, 58, 60-61, 63-64, 67, 70.
Date Deploy ed: 22 January 1983 (USS Ticonderoga)
Unit Cost: About $1 billion each.
Propulsion: 4 General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine engines; 2 shafts, 80,000 shaft horsepower total.
Length: 567 feet.
Beam: 55 feet.
Displacement: 9,600 tons (9,754.06 metric tons) full load.
Speed: 30 plus knots.
Crew: 24 Officers, 340 Enlisted.
Armament: MK41 vertical launching system Standard Missile (MR); Vertical Launch ASROC (VLA) Missile; Tomahawk Cruise Missile; Six MK-46 torpedoes (from two triple mounts); Two MK 45 5-inch/54 caliber lightweight guns; Two Phalanx close-in weapons systems.
Aircraft: Two SH-60 Seahawk (LAMPS III).