Japan commissioned their latest Atago class destroyers to supplement their Kongo class destroyers. The Atago class displaces over 10,000 tons which theoretically makes it a cruiser and not a destroyer. These ships are mainly tasked with long-range air defence duties and lately they are undergoing testing for anti-ballistic missile roles with the new SM-3 missile. Each ship is armed with 96 Mk41 VLS cells to mainly accommodate SM-2 medium range SAMs, SM-3 long-range SAMs and ASROC anti-submarine missiles. Though tasked with air defence, they possess strong atni-ship and anti-submarine capabilities. They have 8 (SSM-1B) anti-ship missiles which are similar to the Harpoon and have a 150 km range, 2 × Type 68 323 mm triple torpedo tubes and a 127 mm gun. They also have 2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS for last-ditch defence against missiles.
These massive destroyers have the SPY-1D passive electronically scanned array radar which enables them to search and track aerial threats hundreds of km around them. Theoretically, 2 of these destroyers acting together for homeland defence can create a no-fly zone for a diameter of 600 km around each of them if they are assumed to be at the center of the circle. This is enough to create a sea based anti-air barrier to defend the Japanese mainland. The 250+ km range SM-3 SAM is a vital part of their air defence network. To keep in line with Japan’s self defence policy, these ships don’t carry the Tomahawk land attack missile although they theoretically can.
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