The big stars are the ferocious, Aegis-class destroyers to which the Navy allowed exclusive access, says Mr. Berg, a lifelong Naval history buff.

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Construction of stealthy, modern Zumwalt-class destroyers has been truncated in favor of additional purchases of ships with far more limited capability first designed 30 years ago.

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The Navy built two classes of warships around the Aegis combat system, beginning with the Ticonderoga class of cruisers in the 1980s and then the Arleigh Burke class of destroyers in the 1990s.

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With manned aircraft, carriers cannot counter cruise and ballistic missile threats from a survivable distance, and will face budget cuts on grounds of vulnerability, just as the new class of destroyers did last month.

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The Navy, driven to meet a near-term requirement contained in a dramatically changing national ballistic missile defense (BMD) strategy, has, without any supporting analysis, chosen to back-fit and concurrently build more of the 30-year-old-design Aegis Arleigh Burke class DDG51 destroyers with only the most basic BMD capability.

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The Zumwalt class DDG 1000 destroyers designed from the keel up to handle this and future threats, now will be limited to three ships without a ballistic missile defense capability.

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The US Navy has expanded the role of its destroyers and the Arleigh Burke-class of vessels is designed to launch simultaneous attacks against targets on land, in the air, at sea and below it.

BBC: News | In Depth | Military Fact Files

It is the last of the Type 42 class to go on active operations before they are replaced by new generation Type 45 destroyers.

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During operations, Nimitz-class carriers sail at the centre of a carrier battle group of ships that includes guided missile cruisers, destroyers, frigates, logistics ships and submarines.

BBC: News | In Depth | Military Fact Files