cruisers are large moderately fast multi-role warships
they provide multi-mission air warfare under sea warfare naval surface fire support and
surface warfare as of 2021 only two countries operate vessels formerly classified as cruisers
the united states and russia and in both cases the vessels are primarily armed with guided missiles
nevertheless several navies operate destroyers that have many of the characteristics of vessels
that are classified as cruisers today we will tell you about some of these tremendous warships
tricondaroga class we start off our list with the us tricondaroga class cruisers envisaged
as a minimum cost advanced area defense platform for construction in large numbers the tricondaroga
class has evolved over the years into what was possibly the most advanced warships ever built
these cruisers were built to support and protect u.s carrier battle groups amphibious assault
groups perform interdiction and escort missions since its introduction the class has seen action
in most u.s navy operations the triconderogas were the first surface combatant ships equipped with
the aegis weapon system when it was fielded in the early 1980s this radar was the first of its kind
and ahead of anything at the time it was designed to defeat attacking missiles by providing quick
reacting firepower and jamming resistance against any aerial threat expected to be faced by a u.s
navy battle group it also provides a unified command and control platform for all the vessels
of the battle group all warships and service are equipped with two mk41 vertical launch systems the
127 cells vertical launch systems can be loaded with standard harpoon asrock and tomahawk missiles
giving later vessels the ability to engage targets above on and below the surface since 2006
all surviving 22 ships of the tricondaroga class were improved and received new essm standard
sm-2 mod 4 surface-to-air missiles two ram missile launchers and also new radars past attempts to
retire triconduroga class ships have been met with pushback from members of congress and
remains to be seen what parts if any of this new naval force structure plan will become a reality
kirov class missile cruiser now we will tell you about the most dangerous russian warships
the largest surface combatants built by any power in the years after world war ii the kirov glass
ships are often referred to as battle cruisers because of their sheer size and firepower the four
kirovs are each 823 feet long eighty percent of the length of a us navy super carrier with a beam
of 93 feet the ships displace 24 300 tons and can make speeds up to 32 knots of the four original
ships only two peter velicky and admiral nakhimov are still in service the ships were originally
armed with 20 p-700 granite ramjet anti-ship missiles each of which could carry a 1500
pound high-explosive or nuclear warhead fast and powerful the kirovs were positioned to hunt down
and destroy american aircraft carriers carrying nuclear weapons that could threaten moscow's
missile submarine sea and the soviet homeland peter velicki currently serves with the russian
northern fleet while admiral nakhimov is receiving an extensive overhaul that will reportedly include
new zircon hypersonic missiles and the s-500 surface-to-air missile system admiral nakhimov
is expected to be ready for service in 2022 and will reportedly join the pacific fleet
slava class but russia has other almost as powerful cruisers that roam the seas the
slava class was a soviet cold war era initiative intended to field some 10 guided missile cruisers
for the soviet navy during the 1970s in the end only three of the planned vessels were ever
completed due to the end of the soviet union in 1991 leaving one incomplete hulk and six vessels
to cancellation slava class missile cruisers exhibit a wholly conventional design profile
made up by an upward sloping bow centralized superstructure and stern helicopter landing deck
the vessel displaces at 11 500 tons and armor consists of splinter plating protection
at the heart of the slava class is a battery of missile launching systems intended to counter
both aerial and surface threats while additional measures are enacted against underseas threats
as required the primary weapon system is 16x p 500 basalt anti-ship missiles fitted into two
banks of four launchers each four paired launchers into a superstructure hillside this arrangement is
supplemented by eight san 6 grumble surface-to-air missile launchers totaling 64 missiles in all
an additional anti-aircraft support is through two x-20 osa ma short-range missile launchers
conventional short-range work is managed through a network of digitally controlled
six times thirty millimeter ak-630 close-in weapon systems ciws's
in general these cruisers fully comply with the late doctrine of the soviet fleet
the use for surface functions of surface-mounted missile carriers covered by carrier-based aircraft
type-055-class now we will tell you about the new cruiser of the chinese fleet
for a long period of time china had no money resources or technology to develop and produce
large warships however over time china developed or obtained access to the required technology
the lead ship of the new type zero five five class was commissioned with the china's navy in 2019
more type zero five five class ships are being built at two shipyards and are nearing completion
once in service these new cruisers will form a core of china's naval battle groups even though
these warships are officially called destroyers the type 0555 class is actually larger in terms
of size and displacement than the us tricondaroga class cruisers and similar to russian slava class
cruisers most likely is that these warships are called destroyers for political reasons the type
zero five five class uses a new universal vertical launch system that supports four different types
of missiles there is a total of 112 launch cells with 64 cells forward and 48 cells aft
it can use a mix of different missiles including hhq-9 long-range air defense missiles jy18
anti-ship missiles cj-10 land attack missiles and ct5 missiles with anti-submarine torpedoes there
are also enclosed launchers for unspecified torpedoes and anti-submarine rocket launchers
it was estimated that each type zero five five class cruiser costs at least 900 million dollars
xi jiang the great class last position in our list is south korean beast
xi jiang the great class these destroyers are among the most advanced warships afloat today
despite their classification as a destroyer many naval analysts feel that they're in fact cruisers
due to their size and armament which are both greater than most of the world's destroyer classes
likely owning to the use of only fully developed technologies and subsystems the xiang the great
class destroyers costs only 923 million per vessel it is worth noting that this price tag makes these
among the most inexpensive aegis warships ever constructed the weapons sensors fire controls
propulsion and other systems are fully automated and networked together via the aegis combat
information system the version currently used in the seijiong the great class is baseline 7
phase 1. this system allows the ship to detect identify evaluate and engage targets with no input
from the crew other than the decision to engage the missile battery of the seijing the great class
is exceptional not even including the 21 cell ram launcher or even the 16 hyunmoo 3
anti-ship missiles they carry an incredible 128 missiles in three different vlc launch cell pads
one forward with 48 cells one aft with 32 cells and another 48 cell pad aft
this is a much larger stock of missiles than the 96 cells found on the arleigh burke class
barring unforeseen developments the xiang the great class destroyers will remain in service
until at least the mid-2030s well that's enough for today let us know in the comments which
cruiser impressed you the most also don't forget to leave us a like and smash that
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