JS Ashigara (DDG-178)

The Ashigara, as seen in-game

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## Background History

The Ashigara is an Atago class guided missile destroyer of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense force. The ship was laid down during April 6, 2005; was launched during August 30, 2006; and was commissioned during March 13, 2008.

The ship participated in disaster relief efforts during the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. Afterward; the ship, along with other Japanese warships, were positioned off the Korean peninsula in late April of 2017 after the escalating tensions between North Korea and the United States.

## Overview

Built with utmost loyalty by the poetic hearts of the children of Oyashima; the Ashigara, driven by the determined and patriotic sailors, sails toward the eastern Sunrise, undaunted by the unforgiving Pacific.

The ship introduces a rather exquisite yet fragile gameplay to players; as the ship has an extensive missile armament and is even equipped with torpedoes, but the ship lacks badly in anti air defense, and is even absent of any torpedo-intercepting grenade launchers. Its below average healthpool is also a characteristic that players should be cautious of, making it in essence a DDG(X) for level 15 players with more health, speed, maneuverability, and radar range (quite one sided).

## Tactics

### Playing as an Ashigara

The Ashigara is fairly similar to that of the Port Royal as they are set up as multi-role ships. In some cases the Ashigara may be referred to as a more defensive or fleet defensive ship with slow speeds but high missile count against the three types of enemies you encounter - surface ships, submerged submarines, and aircraft. The recommended playstyle for this ship is to play at mid-long range while launching missiles and torpedoes at the enemy, thus allowing you to use your speed and maneuverability to your advatnage by dodging some incoming cannon rounds, thus minimizing the damage you can take while also increasing the time for enemy missiles and torpedoes to make contact with your ship, allowing your countermeasures to recharge a bit more so they're ready for use against either this or the next missile salvo heading your way.

### Playing along an Ashigara

Ashigara lacks good air defense and despite being the support, needs support itself. Any ship with good air defense should stick with her as most players replace their anti-air missile with pure ship-to-ship or anti-submarine equipment.

### Playing against an Ashigara

Ashigara is good at multi-role but can be overwhelmed in particular fields. Overwhelming firepower through guns and especially missiles should do the trick. Torpedoes are definitely very effective as Ashigara lacks grenade launchers to destroy torpedoes, although players should be warned since the ship bears this armament as well.

## Suggested Armaments Setup

The ship, with its flexible armaments setup, can be armed with various weapons that will furthermore improve the ship's performance. Below are some suggested weapons setup. But, bear in mind that these are just suggestions.

* First missile slot: RUM-139 Swarmer, Zircon, UGM-133 Trident II, SCALP Naval Type 30 JHGV(effective online)
* Second missile slot: RUM-139 Swarmer, Zircon, UGM-133 Trident II, SCALP Naval Type 30 JHGV(effective offline)
* Third missile slot: RUM-139 Swarmer, Zircon, UGM-133 Trident II, S-500, SCALP Naval, Type 30 JHGV(effective offline)
* Cannon: Koalitsiya-F, MONARC.
* Torpedo: Mark-48 (fast, versatile torpedo) or HUWS (effective against all nearby warship units).
* Anti air defense: Sea RAM, Kashtan-M, Pantsir-ME, ANSEQ-3 (for players with the "hero" status).
* Helicopter: WZ-19 CAIC or SV-22 (effective at spotting enemy ships at the prelude of a match), Ka-58 Black Ghost (for anti-submarine defense).

## Advantages and Disadvantages

### Advantages

* Heavy missile armament, has three separate slots.
* Is equipped with torpedoes for additional anti-submarine defense.
* Affordable price of 12,250,000
* for a tier 3 ship.

### Disadvantages

* Poor anti air defense.
* Somewhat slow compared to other surface warships of the same tier.
* Low durability for a tier 3 destroyer.
* No autocannons.

## Trivia

* The ship used to have a durability of 161,200 prior to the 0.45.8 update, released globally on September 21, 2021. The ship currently has a durability of 213,200. This was, once more, increased to 245,000 in an update.
* The Ashigara is the first ship of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force to bear the prefix of JS (Japanese Ship) instead of JDS (Japanese Defense Ship).
* The ship used to cost 7,200,000 dollars; but was increased to 12,250,000 on January 17, 2022.
* The ship used to be armed with Mark 50 torpedoes, but was later on replaced with Mark 48 torpedoes at the 0.51.1 update, released globally on July 1, 2022.