The Navy's Ticonderoga-class Is Oozing with Firepower (And Will Be Scrapped)

[rangerrebew]

The Navy's Ticonderoga-class Is Oozing with Firepower (And Will Be Scrapped)
Story by Peter Suciu • 12h • 3 min read

 
Summary and Key Points: The commissioning of the USS Ticonderoga (CG-47) in January 1983 marked a significant advancement for the U.S. Navy, introducing the powerful Aegis Combat System and AN/SPY-1 radar. Initially planned as destroyers, their classification was changed to guided-missile cruisers (CG) due to their enhanced capabilities.
 
-Twenty-seven Ticonderoga-class cruisers were built, but fourteen have already been retired.

-The U.S. Navy plans to decommission the remaining thirteen by the end of the decade, despite some resistance from lawmakers. The cruisers are expected to be replaced by the more advanced Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

Ticonderoga-Class Cruisers Set for Decommissioning Amid Fleet Modernization
The commissioning of the USS Ticonderoga (CG-47) in January 1983 ushered in a new era for the United States Navy. Originally planned as a class of destroyers, 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, resulted in the change of the classification from DDG (guided-missile destroyer) to CG (guided-missile cruiser) shortly before the keels were laid down for the USS Ticonderoga and her sister vessel USS Yorktown (CG-48).

 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-navy-s-ticonderoga-class-is-oozing-with-firepower-and-will-be-scrapped/ar-BB1o30fO?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=be173add9cee41aea0a9f2775127d120&ei=72

[Timber Rattler]

The cruisers are expected to be replaced by the more advanced Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

To be built and commissioned nobody knows when...and cruisers?  Who needs cruisers?

[PeteS in CA]

To be built and commissioned nobody knows when...and cruisers?  Who needs cruisers?

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers have capabilities similar to Ticonderoga class cruisers, including the AN/SPY-1 radar system (currently Rev D)

The first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer was commissioned in 2023. The second is likely to be commissioned in 2025, a couple more in 2026, and so on. Since USS Arleigh Burke was commissioned in 1991, ~8 years after USS Ticonderoga the earliest Flight I Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are likely to be in commission for another decade or so.

[DefiantMassRINO]

The 1980s was also an era when US Admirals took battleships out of mothballs to play with for a while.

[Smokin Joe]

To be built and commissioned nobody knows when...and cruisers?  Who needs cruisers?

Do they even have a complete design, yet?

If not, well frig-ate, who needs one?

[Hoodat]

-The U.S. Navy plans to decommission the remaining thirteen by the end of the decade, despite some resistance from lawmakers. The cruisers are expected to be replaced by the more advanced Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

Replacing cruisers with destroyers?  Dumb move.

How many cruisers did the UK lose during the Falklands War?

[PeteS in CA]

Replacing cruisers with destroyers?  Dumb move.
...

Arleigh Burke class destroyers are similar in capability to Ticonderoga class cruisers. Their radar systems are similar or newer. Their armament is similar, except Ticonderogas lack torpedoes. Their speeds are similar, and they share the same GE engine.

This isn't the 1940s, when Treaty cruisers were 4X-6X the displacement of Treaty destroyers. Flight IIA and Flight III Arleigh Burkes are about the same displacement of a Ticonderoga (100 tons less and 100 tons more, respectively), and Flight I and II are 1300-1400 tons less (8200 and 8300 tons vs. 9600 tons).