Kongō-class destroyer
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guided-missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers who have a prim ...
s in the
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...
are equipped with the
Aegis Combat System The Aegis Combat System is an American integrated naval weapons system developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of RCA, and it is now produced by Lockheed Martin. Initially used by the United States Navy, Aegis is now used also by ...
, and is the first of few ship classes outside the
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to have that capability. Following a decision made in December 2003, Japan is upgrading their ''Kongo''-class destroyers with
Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System (Aegis BMD or ABMD), also known as ''Sea-Based Midcourse'', is a United States Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency program developed to provide missile defense against short to intermediat ...
. The upgrade involves a series of installations and flight tests to take place from 2007 to 2010. JS ''Kongo'' was the first ship to have the BMD upgrade installed.


Background

The JMSDF built under FY1960 program and started shipboard operation of surface-to-air missiles. She had been equipped with analog-version of the
Tartar Guided Missile Fire Control System The Tartar Guided Missile Fire-control system, Fire Control System is an air defense system developed by the United States Navy to defend warships from air attack. Since its introduction the system has been improved and sold to several United State ...
. A fully-digitized system was adopted on the next-generation , and later a combat direction system based on the
Naval Tactical Data System Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) was a computerized information processing system developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s and first deployed in the early 1960s for use in combat ships. It took reports from multiple sensors on different sh ...
was added. Nevertheless, the JMSDF estimated that its fleets would not survive against Soviet airstrikes, especially
Tupolev Tu-22M The Tupolev Tu-22M (russian: Туполев Ту-22М; NATO reporting name: Backfire) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing, long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the 1960s. According to some ...
bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...
s and AS-4 air-to-surface missiles. Based on these estimates, JMSDF began to pursue the introduction of the Aegis Weapon System (AWS) from the early 1980s. In 1984, with the prospect of deploying AWS, concrete implementation plans began. And the construction of Japanese first Aegis-equipped ships, ''Kongo'' class, had begun under the FY1988 program.


Design

The overall design is generally modeled on the s of the U.S. Navy. The hull adopted shelter deck design as with preceding Japanese destroyers, but it was widened to support the superstructure with four PESA antennas just as ''Arleigh Burke'' class. Due to this widened hull, the outer panel is inclined to reduce the width of the waterline, which also has the effect of reducing radar cross section area. Because they are built to different operational requirements than the ''Arleigh Burke''-class destroyers, such as for carrying extra commanding equipment, the ''Kongō''-class ships' internal arrangement is quite different from the original design on which they are based. Recognisable external features are the vertical mast and enlarged superstructure to carry sufficient headquarters equipment so that they could act as a flagship. The propulsion systems are almost the same as those of the ''Arleigh Burke'' class, powered by four Ishikawajima-Harima LM2500
gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...
s giving them a top speed of . File:JDS Kirishima, Kongo-class destroyer, 1998.jpg, Starboard beam view of the JS ''Kirishima'' File:Four Aegis destroyer "Kongo" type ships gathered at JMSDF Sasebo base.jpg, All four ''Kongo''-class destroyers at
Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...
File:US Navy 101205-N-2013O-034 The Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Tippecanoe (T-AO 199) refuels the Japan Maritime Self-Defens.jpg, ''Kongō'' and ''Ikazuchi'' being refueled


Equipment

The class is equipped with the Aegis Weapon System (AWS). The system version was Baseline 4 for name-ship through the third ship, and Baseline 5 for fourth ships immediately after they were put into service; then all ships were updated to Baseline 5.3 with modernization. The class uses the AN/SPY-1D as the main radar. As surface-to-air missiles, the SM-2MR Block IIIA was initially used, and later the Block IIIB came into use. Since the mid-2000s, they have also been equipped with a missile defense capability with the primary intention of countering
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
n
ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...
s, and now have an Aegis BMD 3.6 system installed to launch SM-3 Block IA and IB missiles. The
Mark 41 Vertical Launching System The Mark 41 Vertical Launching System (Mk 41 VLS) is a shipborne missile canister launching system which provides a rapid-fire launch capability against hostile threats. The Vertical Launch System (VLS) concept was derived from work on the Aegis C ...
arrangement, similar to the ''Arleigh Burke'' class, consisted of 29 cells on the foredeck and 61 cells on the
afterdeck In naval architecture an afterdeck or after deck, or sometimes the aftdeck, aft deck or a-deck, is the open deck area toward the stern or aft back part of a ship or boat. The afterdeck can be used for a number of different purposes. Not all ship ...
. These cells contain not only RIM-162, SM-2, and SM-3, but also VL-ASROCs. In addition, they are equipped with HOS-302, one of the Japanese variant of the
Mark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes Mark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes (Mk 32 SVTT) is a torpedo launching system designed for the United States Navy. History The Mark 32 has been the standard anti-submarine torpedo launching system aboard United States Navy surface vessels s ...
, as
anti-submarine weapon An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...
s and
Harpoon A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal ...
as anti-ship missiles. And as gunnery weapons, an Oto Melara /54 caliber gun and two Mark 15 20 mm
CIWS A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of l ...
gun mounts are installed. Most of electronic devices outside of AWS originated in Japan. For
electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...
, this class is equipped with NOLQ-2, an elaborate system capable of both ES and EA. The OQS-102 sonar is equivalent to the U.S. SQS-53C.


Flight tests for Aegis BMD systems

In December 2007, Japan conducted a successful test of the SM-3 block IA against a ballistic missile aboard . This was the first time a Japanese ship was selected to launch the interceptor missile during a test of the
Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System (Aegis BMD or ABMD), also known as ''Sea-Based Midcourse'', is a United States Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency program developed to provide missile defense against short to intermediat ...
. In previous tests, they provided tracking and communications. Afterward, Japan has also undertaken another two successful Ballistic Missile Defense tests aboard in October 2009 and aboard in October 2010. While one test aboard in November 2008 failed to intercept the target.


Names

The ''Kongō''-class destroyers are named after mountains in Japan, and all four also share their names with World War II-era Japanese warships. ''Kongō'' and ''Kirishima'' share their names with two ships of the , while the other two ships share their names with the
heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval T ...
s and .


Ships in the class


See also

*
Aegis Combat System The Aegis Combat System is an American integrated naval weapons system developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of RCA, and it is now produced by Lockheed Martin. Initially used by the United States Navy, Aegis is now used also by ...
*
List of naval ship classes in service The list of naval ship classes in service includes all combatant surface classes in service currently with navies or armed forces and auxiliaries in the world. Ships are grouped by type, and listed alphabetically within. For other vessels, see ...
*
List of active Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships List of active ships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is a list of ships in active service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. The JMSDF is one of the world's largest navies and the second largest navy in Asia in terms of fleet ...


References


Bibliography

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External links


GlobalSecurity.org; JMSDF DDG Kongo Class


page on Andrew Toppan's Haze Gray and Underway web site {{DEFAULTSORT:Kongo-class destroyer Destroyer classes Kongo class