Ticonderoga-Class Cruiser

## Ticonderoga Class Guided Missile Cruiser

USS Normandy

The ***Ticonderoga* class** of guided-missile cruisers is a class of warships of the United States Navy, first ordered and authorized in the 1978 fiscal year. It was originally planned as a class of destroyers. However, the increased combat capability offered by the Aegis Combat System and the passive phased array AN/SPY-1 radar, together with the capability of operating as a flagship, were used to justify the change of the classification from DDG (guided-missile destroyer) to CG (guided-missile cruiser) shortly before the keels were laid down for *Ticonderoga* and *Yorktown*.

*Ticonderoga*-class guided-missile cruisers are multi-role warships. Their Mk 41 VLS can fire Tomahawk cruise missiles to strike land targets or anti-aircraft SM-2MR/ERs for defense against aircraft or anti-ship missiles. Their LAMPS III helicopters, RUM-139 ASROCs, and sonar systems allow them to perform anti-submarine missions. *Ticonderoga*-class ships are designed to be elements of carrier strike groups or amphibious ready groups, as well as perform missions such as interdiction or escort. With upgrades to their AN/SPY-1 systems and their associated missile payloads as part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, members of this class have also demonstrated proficiency as mobile anti-ballistic missile and anti-satellite platforms.

Of the 27 completed vessels, 19 were built by Ingalls Shipbuilding and eight by Bath Iron Works (BIW). All but one (*Thomas S. Gates*) of the ships in the class were originally named for noteworthy events in U.S. military history, although a second (Chancellorsville) was renamed to USS *Robert Smalls* (CG-62) in March 2023, and at least twelve share their names with World War II-era aircraft carriers. As of October 2022, 17 ships remain active. Due to the high cost of maintenance and age, the entire class is being progressively retired; the last vessels are scheduled for decommissioning in 2027. Flight III *Arleigh Burke*-class destroyers will serve as short-term role replacements until the expected commissioning of DDG(X) destroyers in the 2030s.

### History

The *Ticonderoga* class was originally ordered as guided missile destroyers, with the designation DDG-47. Under Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo Zumwalt's "high-low mix", the *Ticonderoga*s were intended to be lower-cost platforms for the new Aegis Combat System by mounting the system on a hull based on that of the *Spruance*-class destroyer. They were to complement the much larger and more capable Strike Cruiser (CSGN) comprising the high end, which were expected act as flagships. However, with the cancelation of the Strike Cruiser as well as the scaled-down CGN-42 (*Virginia*-class cruiser hull) alternative, requirements were transferred to the DDG-47. Flagship capabilities were added to the class, and it was eventually re-designated as guided-missile cruisers, CG-47, to reflect these additional capabilities. The *Ticonderoga*-class cruiser went on to form the high end of the fleet, with the later introduction of the *Arleigh Burke*-class destroyer forming the low end.

CG-52 onwards were equipped with the Mk 41 vertical launch system. As the Aegis Combat System and the additional cruiser roles added substantial weight to the *Spruance*-derived hull, the design had limited growth potential in terms of weight and power margin. In the 1980s, a design study known as Cruiser Baseline (CGBL) was created to accommodate the capabilities of CG-52 onto a hull with design and construction techniques matching the DDG-51 (*Arleigh Burke*-class destroyer) for improved survivability and weight allowances.

Due to Budget Control Act of 2011 requirements to cut the Defense Budget for FY2013 and subsequent years, plans were being considered to decommission some of the *Ticonderoga*-class cruisers. For the U.S. Defense 2013 Budget Proposal, the U.S. Navy was to decommission seven cruisers early in fiscal years 2013 and 2014.

Because of these retirements, the U.S. Navy was expected to fall short of its requirement for 94 missile defense cruisers and destroyers beginning in FY 2025 and continuing past the end of the 30-year planning period. While this was a new requirement as of 2011, and the U.S. Navy has historically never had so many large missile-armed surface combatants, the relative success of the Aegis ballistic missile defense system has shifted this national security requirement onto the U.S. Navy. Critics had charged that the early retirement of these cruisers would leave the Navy's ship fleet too small for the nation's defense tasks as the U.S. enacts a policy of "pivot" to the Western Pacific, a predominantly maritime theater. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget bill to require that these cruisers instead be refitted to handle the missile defense role.

By October 2012, the U.S. Navy had decided not to retire four of the cruisers early in order to maintain the size of the fleet. Four *Ticonderoga*-class cruisers, plus 21 *Arleigh Burke*-class destroyers, are scheduled to be equipped for anti-ballistic missile and anti-satellite operations.

In March 2019, the Navy proposed decommissioning the six oldest ships, *Bunker Hill*, *Mobile Bay*, *Antietam*, *Leyte Gulf*, *San Jacinto*, and *Lake Champlain*, in 2021 and 2022, instead of dry-docking them for life-extension maintenance updates as a cost-saving measure. This would not technically be an "early retirement", as the ships would be at their originally planned 35-year life dates, but they would be able to serve longer with the upgrades. The proposal still needs the approval of Congress, which is usually hesitant to approve any actions that would reduce the size of the active combat fleet.

In December 2021, the House approved a bill that would allow the Navy to retire only five *Ticonderoga*-class cruisers versus the Navy's request to retire seven.

### Design

The *Ticonderoga*-class cruiser's design was based on that of the *Spruance*-class destroyer. The *Ticonderoga* class introduced a new generation of guided missile warships based on the Aegis phased array radar that is capable of simultaneously scanning for threats, tracking targets, and guiding missiles to interception. When they were designed, they had the most powerful electronic warfare equipment and the most advanced underwater surveillance system in the U.S. Navy. These ships were one of the first classes of warships to be built in modules, rather than being assembled from the bottom up.

The greater size and equipment on the CG-47-class cruisers increased displacement from 6,900 tons of the DD-963-class destroyers to 9,600 tons of displacement for the heavier cruisers. Aegis cruisers can steam in any ocean and conduct multi-warfare operations anywhere. Some cruisers reported some structural problems in early service after extended periods in extremely heavy seas; they were generally corrected from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. Several ships had superstructure cracks, which were repaired.

These ships' superstructures were a modification of that on the *Spruance*-class destroyers and were required to support two deck-houses (one forward for antennas forward and starboard), and the aft deck-house housed the aft and port antenna arrays. The later *Arleigh Burke*-class Aegis destroyers are designed from the keel up to carry the SPY-1D radars and have them all clustered together on the forward deckhouse, saving space and weight and simplifying cooling requirements. The radar support equipment is closer together, minimizing cable runs and concentrating support equipment.

Operations research was used to study manpower requirements for the *Ticonderoga* class. It was found that four officers and 44 enlisted sailors could be removed from the ship's complement by removing traditional posts that had been made obsolete. However, manpower savings achieved by eliminating the very manpower-intensive Mk 26 guided missile system and replacing it with the far more capable and versatile Mk 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) were harder to emulate with the Mk 45 127 mm (5") gun systems. The Aegis Cruisers are "double-enders", and along with the *Zumwalt* class, are the only surface combatants in the fleet that employ two large-caliber guns.

### Upgrades

Originally, the U.S. Navy had intended to replace its fleet of *Ticonderoga*-class guided-missile cruisers with cruisers produced as part of the CG(X) missile cruiser program; however, severe budget cuts from the 21st-century surface combatant program coupled with the increasing cost of the *Zumwalt*-class destroyer program resulted in the CG(X) program being canceled. The *Ticonderoga*-class cruisers were instead to be replaced by Flight III *Arleigh Burke*-class destroyers.

All five of the twin-arm (Mk-26) cruisers have been decommissioned. In 2003, the newer 22 of the 27 ships (CG-52 to CG-73) in the class were upgraded to keep them combat-relevant, giving the ships a service life of 35 years. In the years leading up to their decommissioning, the five twin-arm ships had been assigned primarily home-waters duties, acting as command ships for destroyer squadrons assigned to the eastern Pacific and western Atlantic areas.

As of July 2013, two cruisers have completed hull, mechanical, and electrical (HM&E) upgrades, and eight cruisers have had combat systems upgrades. These include an upgrade of the Aegis computational system with new computers and equipment cabinets, the SPQ-9B radar system upgrade introducing an increased capability over only gunfire control, optical fiber data communications and software upgrades, and modifications to the vertical launching system allowing two 8-cell modules to fire the RIM-162 ESSM. The most recent upgrade packages include SM-6 and Naval Integrated Fire Control – Counter Air (NIFC-CA) capability. Another upgrade is improving the SQQ-89A(V)15 sonar with a multi-function towed array. Hull, sonar, radar, electrical, computer, and weapons systems upgrades can cost up to $250 million per ship.

### Service

USS *Vincennes* (CG-49) achieved notoriety in 1988 when, amid a running gun battle with Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats, she shot down Iran Air Flight 655, resulting in 290 civilian deaths. The commanding officer of USS *Vincennes*, William C. Rogers III, believed the airliner to be an Iranian Air Force F-14 Tomcat fighter jet on an attack vector, based on misreported radar returns. The investigation report recommended that the Aegis large screen display be changed to allow the display of altitude information on plots and that stress factors on personnel using Aegis be studied.

n 14 February 2008, the United States Department of Defense announced that USS *Lake Erie* (CG-70) would attempt to hit the dead satellite USA-193 over the North Pacific Ocean just before it would burn up on reentry. On 20 February 2008, at approximately 22:30 EST (21 February, 03:30 UTC), an SM-3 was fired from *Lake Erie*, which struck the satellite. The military intended that the missile's kinetic energy would rupture the hydrazine fuel tank allowing the toxic fuel to be consumed during re-entry. The Department of Defense confirmed that the missile had directly hit the fuel tank.

### Ships in Class

* USS Ticonderoga (scrapped)
* USS Yorktown (scrapped)
* USS Vincennes (scrapped)
* USS Valley Forge (scrapped)
* USS Thomas S. Gates (scrapped)
* USS Bunker Hill
* USS Mobile Bay
* USS Antietam
* USS Leyte Gulf
* USS San Jacinto
* USS Lake Champlain
* USS Philippine Sea
* USS Princeton
* USS Normandy
* USS Monterey
* USS Robert Smalls
* USS Cowpens
* USS Gettysburg
* USS Chosin
* USS Hue City
* USS Shiloh
* USS Anzio
* USS Vicksburg
* USS Lake Erie
* USS Cape St. George
* USS Vella Gulf
* USS Port Royal

### Armament

* **CG-47 – 51**
* 2 × Mk 26 missile launchers
* 68 × RIM-66 SM-2
* 20 × RUR-5 ASROC
* 8 × RGM-84 Harpoon missiles
* 2 × 5 in (127 mm)/54 caliber Mark 45 lightweight gun
* 2–4 × .50 in (12.7 mm) cal. machine gun
* 2 × Phalanx CIWS
* 2 × Mk 32 12.75 in (324 mm) triple torpedo tubes
* **CG-52 – 73**
* 2 × 61 cell Mk 41 vertical launch systems containing
	+ 122 × mix of:
		- RIM-66M-5 Standard SM-2MR Block IIIB
		- RIM-156A SM-2ER Block IV
		- RIM-161 SM-3
		- RIM-162A ESSM
		- RIM-174A Standard ERAM
		- BGM-109 Tomahawk
		- RUM-139A VL-ASROC
* 8 × RGM-84 Harpoon missiles
* 2 × 5 in (127 mm)/62 caliber Mark 45 Mod 4 lightweight gun
* 2 × Mk 38 25 mm Machine Gun Systems
* 2–4 × .50 in (12.7 mm) cal. machine gun
* 2 × Phalanx CIWS Block 1B
* 2 × Mk 32 12.75 in (324 mm) triple torpedo tubes