# Rocket cruiser

A rocket cruiser, or a missile cruiser, is a class of modern large warships with powerful armaments, where the primary weapon system consists of missiles. This is the only subclass of cruisers used in the 21st century. As a class, they are the largest and most powerful combat ships built in the post-war period, following aircraft carriers and landing crafts.
Rocket cruisers represent the latest generation of the cruiser class, which has existed since the 19th century. They emerged during the Cold War, in the late 1950s, initially as converted traditional cruisers and later as specially built vessels. They can have conventional propulsion or, less commonly, nuclear propulsion. Depending on the prevailing concept in a given fleet, they primarily served for anti-aircraft or anti-submarine defense of fleet groups, or less commonly, for striking enemy ships with missiles. Their primary armaments included medium to long-range anti-aircraft missiles, long-range anti-ship missiles, and anti-submarine missiles. Newer ships of this class are equipped with powerful universal weapons to counter various types of threats, although anti-aircraft weaponry remains dominant, along with anti-missile systems from the 21st century. Artillery plays a minor role in their armament. Currently, rocket cruisers form a class of ships that are generally larger and possess greater combat power than destroyers and frigates, although these classes historically overlapped and their nomenclature was not uniform. Rocket cruisers were primarily built in the US and the Soviet Union and continue to be in service in the 21st century. Their full displacement typically averages around 10,000 tons, with the largest ones reaching up to 25,000 tons.

## General description

The first rocket cruisers emerged in the second half of the 1950s through the conversion of classic cruisers (either light or heavy), retaining some of their structural features, including armor and part of their artillery armament. In total, 15 such units were created worldwide, most of which replaced their stern artillery with anti-aircraft missile launchers. It wasn't until the subsequent specially designed ships, entering service from 1961 onwards, that the designs completely departed from the traditional cruiser models. These new designs prioritized the placement of missile armaments and electronic equipment, while abandoning armor and heavy artillery.

### Armament

The primary armament of rocket cruisers consists of launchers for guided missiles designed to engage air targets (surface-to-air) or surface targets (surface-to-surface), and less frequently, ground targets. Naval artillery has taken a backseat in their design, with only a few automated, high-rate-of-fire, radar-controlled dual-purpose guns remaining. Some rocket cruisers do not have heavier artillery than a few guns with calibers ranging from 57 to 76 mm. Since the 1980s, the standard has been two 127–130 mm guns, mounted in turrets at the bow and stern on American ships, and grouped into a single turret on Soviet ships. Their armament is complemented by small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, typically only a few, which have evolved since the 1970s into high-rate-of-fire, radar-controlled close-in weapon systems like the American Phalanx and the Soviet AK-630. From the beginning, this class of ships also had armament to counter submarines to a limited extent, such as guided torpedoes or anti-submarine mortars. Some units later received anti-submarine missiles and from 1 to 2 onboard helicopters, allowing for active submarine hunting and engagement at greater distances. Since the 1980s, the norm has been a universal armament suite including both anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, as well as anti-submarine missiles and helicopters. A variant of rocket cruisers were helicopter carriers, designed to carry a larger number of helicopters and primarily intended for anti-submarine warfare. Their further development led to the creation of aircraft cruisers, which in terms of construction and size are a hybrid of cruisers and aircraft carriers.
The first rocket cruisers were armed with the only anti-aircraft missile systems available at the time, with a relatively short range of about 20 km (early versions of Terrier missiles and Soviet Volna). As advancements were made, particularly in the US, rocket cruisers became distinguished by their medium- or long-range missiles, enabling area defense of fleet formations. In the US Navy, these included the limited deployment of long-range Talos missiles (carried by seven ships), newer versions of Terrier missiles, and ultimately the Standard Missile family. In the Soviet Union, these were the Shtorm systems and, in the 1980s, the Fort systems. Representative of rocket cruisers in the late Cold War period are the American RIM-67 Standard with a range of 148 km, RIM-66 Standard missiles with a range of 74 km, and the Soviet Fort with a range of 90 km. Initially, cruisers employed twin-rail launchers (single-rail only on the California class), which were replaced in the 1980s on the newest ships by vertical launching systems (VLS) with multiple cells, allowing for quicker successive launches. In the 21st century, upgraded American ships have received newer Standard missiles: RIM-161 Standard and RIM-174 Standard, with high performance also for ballistic missile defense.
On Soviet ships since the 1960s, heavy long-range anti-ship missiles have been used as primary armament. On American ships, however, since the early 1980s, medium-range anti-ship missiles RGM-84 Harpoon, and also the RGM-109 Tomahawk surface-to-land cruise missiles have been used as supplementary armament.

### Equipment

Like other modern warships, rocket cruisers carry a set of electronic devices enabling target detection and effective weapon guidance, particularly various types of radars and sonars for detecting submarines. Due to their size, however, this class of ships often stands out with particularly rich equipment, including observation devices with better parameters and greater ranges than those found on destroyers and frigates. Notably, the cruiser USS Long Beach (CGN-9) commissioned in 1961, was the first to use radar with flat panel antennas. The pinnacle of development in this field is the integrated Aegis Combat System, first introduced in the 1980s on American Ticonderoga-class cruisers, and only later in a simpler form on smaller classes of ships. This system is still being developed and, in its Aegis BMD version, serves ballistic missile defense. Aside from the oldest ships, rocket cruisers are also equipped with electromagnetic warfare systems, including jamming stations and decoy launchers.

### Propulsion and size

Rocket cruisers are typically powered by conventional propulsion systems – propellers driven by steam turbines or gas turbines, and more rarely, nuclear propulsion. Worldwide, only nine American and four Soviet nuclear-powered cruisers were completed. Regardless of the propulsion type, these power plants allow for relatively high speeds in the range of 30 to 34 knots.
The full displacement of rocket cruisers generally falls between 5,000 and 18,000 tons, with hull lengths ranging from 140 to 220 meters. Most rocket cruisers have a displacement between 7,000 and over 11,000 tons and lengths ranging from 160 to 180 meters. The newer units, which remain in service into the 21st century, have displacements exceeding 10,000 tons. Larger ships, up to 18,000 tons and 220 meters long, were rare and included American cruisers converted from artillery cruisers, Moscow-class helicopter carriers, and the nuclear-powered cruiser USS Long Beach. An exception is the Soviet Project 1144 (Kirov) nuclear-powered cruisers, which have a full displacement of 24,500 tons and a length of 251 meters, making them the largest combat ships built post-war, excluding aircraft carriers.

### Protection

Unlike classical cruisers, most specially built rocket cruisers did not employ any armor. Their primary threats shifted from artillery to missile attacks and weapons of mass destruction. Only light armor was used to protect vital compartments, such as the combat information center within the hull, which also provided some protection against radiation in the event of a predicted nuclear war. Over time, construction measures were taken to increase their resistance to missile attacks. In the 1980s, American ships received additional kevlar protection, shielding sensitive areas. Initially, the kevlar protection on Ticonderoga-class cruisers weighed 110 tons and was subsequently reinforced during their service. Exceptionally, the large Soviet Project 1144 (Kirov) cruisers were equipped with distributed armor up to 100 mm thick, weighing about 1,100 tons.

### Deployment

Due to their high costs and specialized use, rocket cruisers were built and operated in greater numbers primarily by the US and the Soviet Union (now Russia). Four ships were built by Italy, with single conversions from classical cruisers by the Netherlands and France. A total of 106 ships classified as rocket cruisers or commonly recognized as such were built worldwide, all completed by the end of the 20th century. However, some literature also classifies other ships as cruisers, including those built from the end of the second decade of the 21st century in China. Unlike classical cruisers, which were generally adapted for independent oceanic operations, rocket cruisers are intended for close cooperation within naval task forces.
The primary mission of American rocket cruisers was air and missile defense, and secondarily, anti-submarine warfare within fleet task forces, with aircraft carriers as the core. Later, their tasks expanded to include attacking land targets with Tomahawk missiles. From the second decade of the 21st century, one of the primary missions for modernized American cruisers became ballistic missile defense within the missile defense shield. Soviet rocket cruisers, on the other hand, were mainly designed for long-range missile attacks on fleet task forces, especially aircraft carriers (Project 58 and Kirov and Slava classes), and later for air defense of their own task forces. Equivalent ships in the Soviet Union were also specifically designed for anti-submarine warfare.
Ship classification worldwide is not uniform, and the cruiser class does not have universal criteria, making the designation dependent on the navy in question. Additionally, in the 1960s and 1970s, naming conventions changed, and some rocket cruisers were classified as frigates or destroyers during certain periods or at the construction stage. Literature sometimes considers ships as cruisers even if they are not officially classified as such, primarily larger representatives of the Soviet large anti-submarine ship class, which had no equivalent in global classification. Ultimately, after the 1975 classification reform in the US, larger ships were called cruisers, slightly smaller and weaker fleet escorts were called destroyers, and smaller ships for ocean escort and anti-submarine warfare were called frigates. However, the size and qualitative differences between them and destroyers were vague and arbitrary. With the development of destroyers, this distinction has blurred even further (for example, the American Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, complementing the Ticonderoga-class cruisers as the core of US Navy air defense, have displacements up to 8,373 tons and nearly equal combat capabilities, carrying the Aegis system and similar missiles, albeit in smaller numbers; similarly for Japanese destroyers).
Rocket cruisers were designed with full-scale conflict between major countries in mind, which did not occur after World War II. Hence, Soviet and Italian ships of this class were not tested in direct combat. American ships, however, served in carrier escorts during numerous local wars and military interventions conducted by the US, operating in conditions of military superiority and not encountering equal opponents. They played particularly intensive roles in the Vietnam War, protecting fleet task forces attacking the coast. Several times, cruisers armed with long-range Talos missiles attacked aircraft over North Vietnam (e.g., USS Long Beach shot down two aircraft this way in 1968). They also guided their own fighters to targets. They rarely fought directly against aviation threatening fleet groups – for instance, in 1972, Belknap-class cruisers repelled occasional missile and air attacks on American ships, including on 19 April 1972, when USS Sterett shot down a P-15 missile and two MiG aircraft. In December 1983, USS Ticonderoga assumed a more classical role, shelling ground targets during the Lebanon War, demonstrating the continued usefulness of relatively strong artillery with which these ships are equipped. During the Gulf War in 1991, Tomahawk land-attack missiles were used in combat for the first time, primarily launched by Ticonderoga-class cruisers.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian cruiser Moskva of Project 1164 became the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet and in 2022 participated in the invasion of Ukraine, shelling and blockading the coast, but was subsequently sunk by anti-ship missiles.

## History
### First generation – converted cruisers

First-generation rocket cruisers were created by converting classical cruisers (light or heavy), retaining their original structure, including armor and part of their artillery armament. When the first naval anti-aircraft missile systems appeared in the early 1950s, they were initially large, and only cruisers could be equipped with them. The first such ships were two American heavy cruisers of the Baltimore class: Boston and Canberra, whose conversions were completed between 1955 and 1956. They were equipped with two twin Terrier missile launchers at the stern while retaining their main artillery at the bow (six 203 mm guns) and anti-aircraft artillery. Their role was fleet air defense, and they were classified as fleet escorts, although they retained cruiser hull numbers starting with the letter C (for cruiser), with the addition of G (for guided missiles).
Subsequently, between 1956 and 1960, six Cleveland-class light cruisers were similarly converted in the US, creating the Galveston and Providence classes. These received one twin launcher for Terrier or Talos missiles while retaining one or two triple 152 mm gun turrets at the bow. Only three Albany-class cruisers underwent comprehensive conversion between 1962 and 1964, removing all artillery and installing new superstructures and four twin missile launchers (two for Talos and two for Tartar), as well as an ASROC rocket-torpedo launcher, giving them enhanced anti-submarine capabilities. There were considerations to equip these cruisers with strategic weapons such as Regulus II cruise missiles or Polaris ballistic missiles, but this idea was abandoned in favor of arming submarines with SSBN. A total of 11 American cruisers were converted into rocket cruisers, but further conversions were halted when it became clear that missile systems could also be installed on smaller, more modern ships that required smaller crews (the converted American cruisers had full displacements ranging from 15,152 to 18,777 tons and crews from 1,200 to 1,500 men). They were all decommissioned by the late 1970s.
Following the American example, three smaller light cruisers of other NATO countries were rearmed with anti-aircraft missiles installed in place of their aft armament: the Dutch De Zeven Provinciën, the Italian Giuseppe Garibaldi, and the French Colbert. Only the French ship, rebuilt last in 1972, also received Exocet anti-ship missile launchers and domestically produced Masurca anti-aircraft missiles. The others received American Terrier missiles, with Garibaldi uniquely among surface ships also being armed with Polaris strategic missile launchers, although these were never actually carried. In the Soviet Navy, only one cruiser, Dzerzhinsky, of Project 68bis, was similarly rearmed with anti-aircraft missiles. The M-2 missiles used on it, adapted from the land-based S-75, proved ineffective as a naval system, and further conversions were abandoned. Another cruiser of this project, Admiral Nakhimov, was used for testing anti-ship missiles but never entered service in this role. The British considered converting older cruisers to rocket cruisers with the Seaslug system but ultimately did not proceed. Several other classical cruisers from various countries were rearmed with short-range anti-aircraft systems requiring fewer modifications, such as Seacat or Osa-M, but since these were intended only for self-defense, they are not considered rocket cruisers (e.g., the Soviet Zhdanov and Admiral Senyavin of Project 68U). The Peruvian light cruiser Almirante Grau (formerly the Dutch De Ruyter) was rearmed with eight Otomat anti-ship missiles at the end of the 20th century, but these did not constitute its primary armament.

### Newly built cruisers of the Cold War period
#### Fleet air defense cruisers

At the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, the first ships specifically designed as rocket cruisers were constructed, with a focus on carrying modern missile armament and electronic equipment. A common feature of these ships was the absence of traditional armor and a significant reduction in artillery. Their development followed three main directions: combating aircraft, submarines, and surface ships. Some ships combined these specializations or had universal characteristics, but generally, one function was dominant. Representatives of the first direction were particularly American ships, designed as fleet escort ships specialized primarily in combating aerial targets – later also missiles, and secondarily, submarines.
In 1957, construction began on the first new missile cruiser, USS Long Beach, which was commissioned in 1961 and became the first surface ship to receive nuclear propulsion. Its armament consisted of three twin launchers for medium and long-range anti-aircraft missiles, Terrier and Talos, and an ASROC rocket-torpedo launcher, with artillery reduced to two 127 mm guns (initially, it was not intended to carry artillery at all). With a full displacement of 16,602 tons, it had the size of a classic large cruiser and required a crew of 1,100, but its successors in the United States Navy were already smaller ships. Starting in 1962, fleet escort ships of the Leahy and Belknap classes began to enter service – a total of 18 units, initially officially classified as frigates (DLG designation), but reclassified as rocket cruisers (CG designation) during the 1975 classification reform. They had a full displacement of below 8,000 tons and required crews of fewer than 400 people. The Leahy class had two twin launchers for Terrier anti-aircraft missiles and lacked larger caliber artillery altogether; the Belknap class, at the expense of one missile launcher, had a 127 mm gun but was better suited for anti-submarine warfare. Single nuclear versions of both types were also built: Bainbridge and Truxtun. Smaller types of American frigates were reclassified as destroyers in 1975, while the term "frigate" was transferred in the US to even smaller anti-submarine ships, creating the modern class of frigates.
In the 1970s, the US developed six larger and more versatile nuclear cruisers with a displacement of around 11,000 tons: two of the California class (also initially classified as frigates) and four of the Virginia class. In addition to two missile launchers, they received stronger artillery in the form of two 127 mm guns, and their anti-submarine armament set was supplemented for the first time with a helicopter. In the 1980s, American rocket cruisers were armed with Harpoon medium-range anti-ship missiles, but since their primary role was fleet escort, combating surface ships was never their main task.
In the mid-1970s, the US considered building large nuclear strike cruisers with a displacement of 17,000 tons (Strike Cruiser), which were to receive the most advanced anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense system in the world, Aegis. However, these plans were abandoned due to cost. Instead, the last type of American rocket cruisers became the smaller, universal ships of the Ticonderoga class, built from the 1980s onwards, equipped with the Aegis system but also carrying two helicopters for anti-submarine warfare and capable of attacking land targets with Tomahawk missiles in subsequent versions. They also carried relatively strong artillery for modern ships, with two 127 mm guns. Their full displacement in the first version reached 9,957 tons, and they were constructed on the hull of the Spruance-class destroyers and were initially intended to be classified as such, indicating a lack of clear distinction between classes of modern ships. The Ticonderoga class, gradually improved, proved to be a very successful type of universal ship and led to the longest series of rocket cruisers in the world, comprising 27 ships, the last of which entered service in 1994. Later ships exceeded 10,000 tons of full displacement.
In literature, other large escort ships from the 1960s and 1970s armed with medium or long-range anti-aircraft missiles and generally corresponding to American frigates (DLG) were occasionally classified as cruisers, although not officially. These included particularly the French Suffren-class frigates (destroyers) (6,090 tons), the British County-class (6,800 tons) and Type 82 (7,700 tons) destroyers, and even the smaller Dutch Tromp-class frigates (4,308 tons).

#### Anti-submarine warfare cruisers

The second primary mission of rocket cruisers became anti-submarine warfare. The first rocket cruisers mainly designed for this purpose were the two Italian ships of the Andrea Doria class, with a full displacement of 6,500 tons. Their construction began in 1958 and was completed in 1964. These were also the first helicopter cruisers in the world, capable of carrying up to four anti-submarine helicopters and armed with a twin launcher for Terrier anti-aircraft missiles. Their successor was a larger ship, Vittorio Veneto, completed in 1969, which could carry up to nine helicopters and launch ASROC rocket-torpedoes.
The concept was further developed by the two Soviet helicopter cruisers of Project 1123 (Moskva), started in 1962, which could carry up to 14 helicopters. They had a full displacement of 17,500 tons and were also armed with two twin launchers for medium-range M-11 Shtorm anti-aircraft missiles and an anti-submarine rocket launcher. The artillery armament of all these types was limited to dual-purpose guns of 76 mm (Italian ships) or 57 mm (Soviet ships).
The development of Soviet anti-submarine warfare cruisers proceeded in two directions: on one hand, designing even larger aircraft-carrying cruisers with enhanced aviation capabilities, and on the other, smaller ships with a displacement of about 8,000 tons carrying a single helicopter. Representatives of the latter direction included 17 ships of Projects 1134A (NATO designation: Kresta II) and 1134B (NATO designation: Kara), which entered service from the early 1970s. In the Soviet Union, they were classified as "large anti-submarine ships", but abroad they were commonly regarded as cruisers, especially since they derived from the design of rocket cruisers of Project 1134. Besides two twin launchers for medium-range Shtorm anti-aircraft missiles, their main armament consisted of eight Metel anti-submarine rocket-torpedo launchers, and their artillery was limited to 57 mm or 76 mm guns.

#### Strike cruisers

An alternative development path for rocket cruisers was represented by ships armed with heavy long-range anti-ship missiles, primarily developed in the Soviet Union with a focus on combating aircraft carriers. Starting in 1962, four ships of Project 58 (NATO designation: Kynda) entered service. They were armed with eight P-35 missile launchers with a range of 250 km and a twin launcher for M-1 Volna anti-aircraft missiles. With a moderate full displacement of 5,350 tons, they were initially intended to be classified as destroyers but ultimately entered service as rocket cruisers. During this period, designs for larger cruisers, such as Project 64 and the nuclear-powered Project 63 (with 24 anti-ship missiles), were also developed. However, their construction was abandoned due to high costs and vulnerability to air attacks due to the shortcomings of available anti-aircraft missiles.
The next built type was four ships of Project 1134 (NATO designation: Kresta I) with a displacement of 7,500 tons, equipped with four P-35 anti-ship missile launchers and two Volna anti-aircraft missile launchers. These were transitional types with lesser strike capabilities and were initially classified as large anti-submarine ships but were reclassified as rocket cruisers in 1977.
In the 1980s, before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, only three rocket cruisers of the new generation Project 1164 (Slava class) with a full displacement of 11,300 tons were completed out of a longer planned series. They carried 16 Bazalt anti-ship missile launchers and eight vertical launchers for long-range Fort anti-aircraft missiles. The pinnacle of development for cruisers designed to engage surface ships, while also protecting fleet formations from aircraft and submarines, was the four large nuclear-powered cruisers of Project 1144 (Kirov class) from the 1980s. These were officially classified as "heavy nuclear rocket cruisers". With a full displacement of up to 25,000 tons, they were armed with 20 Granit heavy anti-ship missile launchers, 12 vertical launchers for long-range Fort anti-aircraft missiles, and short-range missiles. For anti-submarine warfare, they were equipped with rocket-torpedo launchers and three helicopters, and their crew numbered up to 744 people. In English-language literature, they are sometimes referred to as "battlecruisers", although this designation lacks official justification.
The ship Muntenia, with a displacement of 5,790 tons, was constructed and built in Romania in the 1980s. It was initially somewhat ambitiously designated as a light helicopter cruiser but was reclassified as a destroyer in 1990, along with a name change. The ship and its classification reflected the ambitions of dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu amid limited industrial capabilities. It carried eight Soviet P-20M medium-range anti-ship missiles but lacked anti-aircraft missile armament and was equipped with two light helicopters without means for long-range anti-submarine warfare.

#### Aircraft cruisers

The further development of helicopter cruisers led to the creation of ships formally classified only as cruisers but significantly larger and effectively light aircraft carriers. In the Soviet Union, a series of unusual hybrid ships of Project 1143 (Kiev class) were built in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Initially classified as anti-submarine cruisers, they were ultimately designated as "heavy aircraft cruisers". These ships combined the architecture of cruisers and aircraft carriers and were armed with long-range anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles along with a deck for vertical take-off and landing aircraft. Their full displacement of approximately 43,000 tons is typical for aircraft carriers. By hosting several helicopters, their primary mission was also anti-submarine warfare. Their successor became the even larger conventional aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, which also carries 12 heavy anti-ship Granit missiles and is officially classified as a heavy aircraft cruiser.
Outside of the Soviet Union and Russia, the Italian light aircraft carrier designed for VTOL aircraft, Giuseppe Garibaldi, is also formally classified as an aircraft cruiser. It is armed with missiles, but these are short-range self-defense missiles (anti-aircraft Aspide and anti-ship Otomat) and do not match the significance of its aviation capabilities.

### 21st century

The end of the Cold War and the subsequent reduction of military rivalry led to significant reductions in naval forces. This reduction was more pronounced in the Soviet Navy, which was mostly taken over by Russia. Faced with severe financial difficulties, Russia was forced to decommission most of its ships in the 1990s or send them for extended overhauls. By 2016, the Russian Navy had only one active nuclear cruiser, Pyotr Velikiy, and three cruisers of Project 1164 (Slava class). The completion of a more than 20-year-long overhaul of the second nuclear cruiser, Admiral Nakhimov, possibly with modernized weaponry, was planned for 2021. In 2022, the cruiser Moskva of Project 1164 sank after being hit by a Ukrainian missile.
As of 2020, the US Navy still had 22 of its newest Ticonderoga-class cruisers in service. These ships were continuously upgraded, enhancing their value and versatility. Some were equipped with ballistic missile defense capabilities (Aegis BMD system). However, no new cruisers of this class were being built. In the 21st century, there were design efforts for futuristic large cruisers provisionally designated as CG(X), but the program was canceled in 2010 due to budget constraints.
Formally, only the aforementioned ships are classified as cruisers globally. The latest American futuristic large destroyers of the Zumwalt class, despite their displacement of approximately 16,000 tons and armament with two large-caliber (155 mm) guns traditionally associated with cruisers, are classified as destroyers. Literature often emphasizes that these ships are essentially large cruisers. Similarly, Japanese large missile destroyers of the Kongō class, with a displacement of 9,485 tons and equipped with the Aegis system (derived from the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers), are sometimes referred to as cruisers. Their improved versions, the Atago and Maya classes, exceed 10,000 tons. Japan, for political reasons, does not use the term "cruiser" or even "destroyer", formally classifying these ships as missile escorts with hull numbers prefixed by DDG, corresponding to guided-missile destroyers. These Japanese destroyers also provide ballistic missile defense.
The US Navy refers to the new large Chinese Type 055 guided-missile destroyers as cruisers, although they are classified as destroyers and are treated as such by most literature. These ships, with a full displacement estimated at 13,000–14,000 tons and a length of 182.6 meters, fully match the capabilities of cruisers due to their size and extensive arsenal of weapons and electronic equipment. Besides carrying area defense anti-aircraft missiles, akin to Soviet cruisers, they can also carry long-range anti-ship missiles (540 km) YJ-18.