Ticonderoga-class cruiser

The Ticonderoga class is a class of guided-missile cruisers of the United States Navy, first ordered and authorized in fiscal year 1978. It was planned as a class of destroyers, but the Aegis Combat System and the passive phased-array AN/SPY-1 radar, together with the ability to act as a flagship, justified reclassifying it as cruisers before the first keels were laid. The ships are multirole warships: the Mk 41 vertical launching system fires Tomahawk cruise missiles against land targets or SM-2 missiles against aircraft and antiship missiles, and the LAMPS III helicopters, ASROC and sonar handle submarines. Of the 27 completed vessels, 19 were built by Ingalls Shipbuilding and eight by Bath Iron Works. USS Lake Erie shot down a satellite in orbit in 2008. The class is being retired in stages, with the last due out of service by 2030.