Strike cruiser

Artist conception of Mark I variant (1976 version)
Class overview
NameNuclear-powered guided missile strike cruiser (CSGN)
BuildersNever built
Operators United States Navy
Preceded byVirginia class
Succeeded byTiconderoga class
Cost$1.371 billion USD - lead ship (est.)
Planned8–12
General characteristics
TypeGuided-missile cruiser
Displacement
  • 16,035 long tons (16,292 t) (light)
  • 17,284 long tons (17,561 t)(full load)
Length709 ft 7 in (216.28 m)
Beam76 ft 5 in (23.29 m)
Draft22 ft 4 in (6.81 m)
Propulsion
  • 2 pressurized water D2G General Electric nuclear reactors, two shafts, 60,000 shp (45 MW)
  • 2 × 2,000 kW (2,700 hp) diesel generators
  • 6 × ship service turbo generators
Speed30 knots (56 km/h)+
Rangeunlimited
Complement454 (total)
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
Aircraft carried2 x SH-2F LAMPS I helicopters

The strike cruiser (proposed hull designator: CSGN) was a proposal from DARPA for a class of cruisers in the late 1970s. The proposal was for the Strike Cruiser to be a guided missile attack cruiser with a displacement of around 17,200 long tons (17,500 t), armed and equipped with the Aegis combat system, the SM-2, Harpoon anti-ship missile, the Tomahawk missile, and the Mk71 8-inch gun.

A prototype strike cruiser was to be the refurbished USS Long Beach; at a cost of roughly $800 million, however this never came to pass.

The 17,000 ton strike cruiser design.
Line drawing of the strike cruiser.

Originally, eight to twelve strike cruisers were projected. The class would have been complemented by the Aegis-equipped fleet defense (DDG-47) version of the Spruance-class destroyer. Plagued with design difficulties and escalating cost, the project was canceled in the closing days of the Ford administration.[1] After the cancellation of the class, the Aegis destroyers were expanded into the Ticonderoga class (CG-47) Aegis cruiser program.

  1. ^ Friedman, Norman (1984). U.S. CRUISERS An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 419–422.