According
to a Pentagon official, the US Navy deployed one of its Destroyers off
the Korean Peninsula amid growing tensions with North Korea. USS Fitzgerald,
who had sailed to South Korea recently to participate in joint military
exercises, was sent to the south-west peninsula instead of returning
to its home port in Japan, the official said, who wished to remained
unnamed. This deployment is a cautious initiative that can offer "more
options for missile defense if the need arises," the source added. |
USS
Fitzgerald (DDG-62) is a is an Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) Flight I
destroyer. It is capable to launch Raytheon's SM-3 missiles.
The SM-3 is a defensive weapon used by the U.S. Navy to destroy short-
to intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The SM-3 destroys incoming
ballistic missile threats by colliding with them, a concept sometimes
described as “hitting a bullet with a bullet.” The impact
is the equivalent of a 10-ton truck traveling at 600 mph.
DDG 51 multi-mission guided missile destroyers operate in support of
carrier battle groups, surface action groups, amphibious groups and
replenishment groups, providing a complete array of anti-submarine,
anti-air and anti-surface capabilities. Designed for survivability,
the ships incorporate all-steel construction and have gas turbine propulsion.
The combination of the ships’ Aegis combat system, the vertical
launching system, an advanced anti-submarine warfare system, two embarked
SH-60 helicopters, advanced anti-aircraft missiles and Tomahawk anti-ship
and land-attack missiles make the Arleigh Burke class one of the most
powerful surface combatant ever put to sea.
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