F/A-18A Hornet.
enables fighter aircraft to concentrate more on the
outer air battle while Aegis cruisers and
destroyers concentrate on the battle group area
defense. The highly accurate Aegis weapons
system reduces the use of other valuable assets. As
long as our “blue-water” Navy must steam into
harm’s way in carrying out assigned missions, it
will require a formidable antiair warfare
capability. Aegis has given AAW forces a decided
edge for the present. It also promises to give
the fleet an extremely capable AAW system
through-out the turn of the century. This will
be done through planned upgrades to the
standard missiles, the introduction of vertical
launchers, and evolutionary improvements to
Aegis itself.
Aegis is installed on all Ticonderoga-class
cruisers (fig. 1-4). A system compatible with
Figure 1-4.—USS Ticonderoga (CC-47).
1-13
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