History: Ticonderoga class cruiser

The Ticonderoga class is a class guided missile cruisers in service with the United States Navy. They were first ordered and authorized in the 1978 fiscal year. One of the main characteristics of the ships in this class is that they use passive phased-array radar. Another interesting fact is that they were originally planned as a class of destroyers but the increased capabilities offered by the Aegis Combat System and the AN/SPY-1 radar justified the reclassification from DDG - Guided missile destroyer to CG - Guided missile cruiser.

History

Early retirement considerations

In light of the Budget Control Act of 2011 requirements to reduce the U. S. Defense Budget for the FY2013 the Navy considered the early decommissioning of some of the Ticonderoga-class cruisers. As a result the U.S. Defense 2013 Budget Proposal was made with plans to decommission seven cruisers in the fiscal years 2013 and 2014.

However these retirements would mean that the U.S. Navy would fall short of its requirements for 94 missile defense cruisers and destroyers beginning in FY2025.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget bill that requires that these cruisers to be refitted to handle a missile defence role rather then being retired¹

Design and construction

Vertical Launching System

Upgrades

Naming

Technology

Operational Service

Incidents

Iran Air Flight 655 incident

One major incident in which a ship of this class was involved is the shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655. On 3 July 1988 the crew of the USS Vincennes CG-49 mistakenly identified an Iran Air civilian aircraft as an attacking F14A Tomcat fighter and shot it down. All 290 civilian passengers on the aircraft lost their lives.

Ships in class

Name

Number

Builder

Launced

Commissioned

Decommissioned

Status

See also

Further reading

Guided missile cruiser