Spruance - class destroyer The " Spruance " - class destroyer was developed by the United States to replace a large number of World War II - built " Allen M . Sumner " - and " Gearing " - class destroyers , and was the primary destroyer built for the U . S . Navy during the 1970s . First commissioned in 1975 , the class was designed with gas - turbine propulsion , all - digital weapons systems , automated 5 - inch guns . Serving for three decades , the " Spruance " class was designed to escort a carrier group with a primary ASW mission , though in the 1990s 24 members of the class were upgraded with the Mark 41 Vertical Launching System ( VLS ) for the Tomahawk surface - to - surface missile . Rather than extend the life of the class , the navy accelerated its retirement . The last ship of the class was decommissioned in 2005 , with most examples broken up or destroyed as targets . History . Design . The class was designed for anti - submarine warfare ( ASW ) with point defense anti - aircraft warfare ( AAW ) missiles ; upgrades provided anti - ship and land attack capabilities . The ships were initially controversial , especially among members of the United States Congress who believed that their unimposing looks , with only two guns and an ASROC or Armored Box Launcher ( ABL ) missile launcher per ship implied that the vessels were weak compared to Soviet or older US designs which had more visible guns or launchers for the Standard medium range missiles . Despite the criticism they were successful for their intended ASW roles . The " Spruances " were comparable in size to cruisers ( CG ) under the U . S . Navy ' s hull classification symbol system . . Despite their " DD " designation indicating gun destroyers , their primary armament was missiles . However the " Spruance " class as designed carried anti - aircraft missiles only sufficient for point defense , compared to other American destroyers designated as DDG which were designed to provide anti - aircraft warfare screening to the fleet while also having surface - to - surface capabilities . A major update in the 1990s would add a Vertical Launch Missile System ( VLS ) for the Tomahawk surface - to - surface missile which effectively made the modernized vessels up to DDG standard , although this class still lacked the stealth and missile capabilities of later Aegis equipped cruisers and destroyers . The " Spru - cans " were the first large U . S . Navy ships to use gas turbine propulsion ; they had four General Electric LM2500 gas turbines to generate about 80 , 000 horsepower ( 60 MW ) . This configuration ( developed in the 1960s by the Royal Navy and known as COmbined Gas And Gas , or COGAG ) very successful and used on most subsequent U . S . warships . A slightly lengthened version of the hull was also used for the " Ticonderoga " - class cruisers . As of 2010 , all US Navy surface combatants ( except nuclear aircraft carriers and the LCS - 1 ) use the LM2500 COGAG arrangement , usually with two such turbines per shaft . The entire class of 30 ships was contracted on 23 June 1970 to the Litton - Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula , Mississippi , under the Total Package Procurement concept originated by the Whiz Kids of Robert McNamara ' s Pentagon . The idea was to reap the benefits of mass construction , but labor and technical problems caused cost overruns and delayed construction . One additional ship , USS " Hayler " , was ordered on 29 September 1979 . " Hayler " was originally planned as a DDH ( Destroyer , Helicopter ) design , which would carry more anti - submarine helicopters than the standard design of the " Spruance " class . Eventually this plan to build a DDH was scrapped and a slightly modified DD - 963 class hull was put in commission . Four additional ships were built for the Iranian Navy with the Mark 26 / Standard AAW missile system but were completed as " Kidd " s for the U . S . Navy . The Kidd s were nearly identical to the " Spruance " s but they were more advanced general - purpose ships . It was once planned to build all of the " Spruance " class up to this standard , but it was too expensive . An air - capable mini V / STOL aircraft carrier with fighters and ASW helicopters based on the " Spruance " hull was seriously considered but not produced . Upgrades . The " Spruance " design is modular in nature , allowing for easy installation of entire subsystems within the ship . Although originally designed for anti - submarine warfare , 24 ships of this class were upgraded with the installation of a 61 cell Vertical Launch Missile System ( VLS ) capable of launching Tomahawk missiles . The remaining seven ships not upgraded were decommissioned early . At least ten VLS ships , including " Cushing " , " O ' Bannon " , and " Thorn " , had a 21 cell RIM - 116 Rolling Airframe Missile launcher mounted on the starboard fantail . " Spruance " - class destroyers fired 112 land attack Tomahawks during Operation Desert Storm . Fate . The US Navy planned to replace its current destroyers and cruisers with the new Zumwalt class destroyer ( DDG - 1000 ) ships . In order to save $ 28 million a year the navy accelerated retirement of the ships , though they could have served to 2019 had they been maintained and updated . The last " Spruance " - class destroyer on active service , , was decommissioned on 21 September 2005 . It was then offered to the Pakistan Navy , but was sunk as a target 29 April 2009 . Per the 2010 U . S . Defense budget , only three DDG - 1000s are being built . The " Arleigh Burke " class is the navy ' s only operational class of destroyers . Some " Spruance " destroyers were broken up , but rather than being preserved in storage like some older classes , the majority of the class finished their lives as targets . Most were deliberately sunk in various fleet exercises . One notable exception was the four ships of the " Kidd " class that were transferred to the Republic of China Navy ( Taiwan ) . They are active and referred to as the " Kee Lung " class . The replaced the in 2005 as the Self Defense Test Ship . It is a refurbished ship , operated by remote control which avoids the safety constraints and other problems associated with manned ships being targeted by or towing targets by live weapons . The prearranged attack is in practice aimed at a decoy barge pulled 150 feet behind the SDTS in case of damage .