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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.
FORBES: Missile Defense Becomes A Navy Mission
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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.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Countering Beijing's new weapon
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The Arleigh Burke-class vessels are equipped with launch tubes for Tomahawk cruise missiles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and gun placements for close combat.
BBC: News | In Depth | Military Fact Files