A Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block 1B interceptor missile is launched from the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) during a Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Navy test in the mid-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
PARIS — The US Navy announced today it is extending the service lives of three Ticonderoga-class cruisers, a decision that adds 10 years of cumulative ship service to the fleet and follows a similar decision last week to extend 12 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
“All three cruisers received extensive hull, mechanical and engineering, as well as combat system upgrades as part of an extended modernization program,” according to a service statement published today. “USS Gettysburg (CG-64) and USS Chosin (CG-65) completed modernization in fiscal year 2023 and fiscal year 2024, respectively. USS Cape St. George (CG-71) is on schedule to complete modernization this fiscal year.”
For years, the Navy has lobbied Congress to allow for certain Ticonderoga-class cruisers — as well as Littoral Combat Ships — to be decommission ahead of schedule, but lawmakers have repeatedly blocked those efforts, largely citing the need for the service to achieve a larger fleet.
Those efforts have followed a large, and problematic, effort to modernize those ships, which is nine years old and counting.
“As a former cruiser sailor, I know the incredible value these highly-capable warships bring to the fleet and I am proud of their many decades of service,” Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said in the statement. “After learning hard lessons from the cruiser modernization program, we are only extending ships that have completed modernization and have the material readiness needed to continue advancing our Navy’s mission.”
The Chosin (CG-65) was also recently part of a Navy demonstration that has been personally lauded by Del Toro for transferring and reloading missile cannisters at sea, a capability the Navy claims will be “transformational” because it removes the need for a ship to pull into port.
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