A port-front view of the JSMyōkō
Class overview
Name	Kongō class
Builders	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (3) Ishikawajima-Harima HI (1)
Operators	Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
Preceded by	Hatakaze class
Succeeded by	Atago class
Built	1990 - 1998
In commission	1993 -
Completed	4
Active	4
General characteristics
Type	Guided-missile destroyer
Displacement	7,250 tons standard[1] 9,500 tons full load[1]
Length	161 m (528 ft)[1]
Beam	21 m (69 ft)[1]
Draft	6.2 m (20 ft)[1]
Propulsion	4Ishikawajima Harima/General Electric LM2500-30gas turbines; two shafts, 100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	300
Sensors & processing systems	AN/SPY-1DPESA radar OPS-28C or Dsurface-search radar OPS-20navigation radar 3 ×AN/SPG-62 fire-control radar OQS-102 bow-mounted sonar OQR-2 towed array sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys	NOLQ-2 ECM intercept and jammer 4 ×Mark 36 SRBOC Chaff and Decoy Launching System Type 4 towed anti-torpedo decoy
Armament	1 × 127 mm (5 in)/54 Caliber Oto Melara Compact Gun 8 ×RGM-84 Harpoon Anti-ship Missile in quad canisters 2 × 20 mmPhalanx CIWS 2 × HOS-302 tripletorpedo tubes: Mark 46 torpedo Type 73 torpedoes 90-cellMk 41Vertical Launching System: SM-2MR Surface-to-air missile SM-3 Anti-ballistic missile RUM-139 Anti-Submarine Rocket RIM-162 Surface-to-air missile Tomahawk cruise missile[2]
Aircraft carried	1 ×SH-60J/K helicopter
Aviation facilities	Helicopter deck only

TheKongō class (こんごう型護衛艦,Kongō-gata Goeikan) ofguided-missile destroyers in theJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force are equipped with theAegis Combat System, and is the first of few ship classes outside theUnited States to have that capability. Following a decision made in December 2003, Japan is upgrading theirKongo-class destroyers withAegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. The upgrade involves a series of installations and flight tests to take place from 2007 to 2010. JSKongo was the first ship to have the BMD upgrade installed.^[3]

The JMSDF builtJDS Amatsukaze (DDG-163) under FY1960 program and started shipboard operation ofsurface-to-air missiles. She had been equipped with analog-version of theTartar Guided Missile Fire Control System.^[4] A fully-digitized system was adopted on the next-generationTachikaze class, and later a combat direction system based on theNaval Tactical Data System was added.^[5]

Nevertheless, the JMSDF estimated that its fleets would not survive against Soviet airstrikes, especiallyTupolev Tu-22Mbombers usingAS-4air-to-surface missiles. Based on these estimates, JMSDF began to pursue the introduction of the Aegis Weapon System (AWS) from the early 1980s. In 1984, with the prospect of deploying AWS, concrete implementation plans began. And the construction of Japanese first Aegis-equipped ships,Kongo class, had begun under the FY1988 program.^[6]

The overall design is generally modeled on theArleigh Burke-class destroyers of the U.S. Navy. The hull adopted shelter deck design as with preceding Japanese destroyers, but it was widened to support the superstructure with fourPESA antennas just asArleigh Burke class. Due to this widened hull, the outer panel is inclined to reduce the width of the waterline, which also has the effect of reducing radar cross section area.^[1]

Because they are built to different operational requirements than theArleigh Burke-class destroyers, such as for carrying extra commanding equipment, theKongō-class ships' internal arrangement is quite different from the original design on which they are based. Recognisable external features are the vertical mast and enlarged superstructure to carry sufficient headquarters equipment so that they could act as a flagship.^[1]

The propulsion systems are almost the same as those of theArleigh Burke class, powered by fourIshikawajima-Harima LM2500gas turbines giving them a top speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph).^[1][7]

• 
  Starboard beam view of the JSKirishima
• 
  All fourKongo-class destroyers atSasebo
• 
  Kongō andIkazuchi being refueled

The class is equipped with theAegis Weapon System (AWS). The system version was Baseline 4 for name-ship through the third ship, and Baseline 5 for fourth ships immediately after they were put into service; then all ships were updated to Baseline 5.3 with modernization. The class uses theAN/SPY-1D as the main radar.^[8] Assurface-to-air missiles, theSM-2MR Block IIIA was initially used, and later the Block IIIB came into use. Since the mid-2000s, they have also been equipped with amissile defense capability with the primary intention of counteringNorth Koreanballistic missiles, and now have anAegis BMD 3.6 system installed to launch SM-3 Block IA and IB missiles.^[1]

TheMark 41 Vertical Launching System arrangement, similar to theArleigh Burke class, consisted of 29 cells on the foredeck and 61 cells on theafterdeck. These cells contain not only RIM-162, SM-2, and SM-3, but alsoVL-ASROCs.^[7] In addition, they are equipped with HOS-302, one of the Japanese variant of theMark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes, asanti-submarine weapons andHarpoon as anti-ship missiles.^[1] And as gunnery weapons, anOto Melara 127 mm (5 in)/54 caliber gun and two Mark 15 20 mmCIWS gun mounts are installed.^[1][7]

Most of electronic devices outside of AWS originated in Japan. Forelectronic warfare, this class is equipped with NOLQ-2, an elaborate system capable of bothES andEA.^[7] The OQS-102 sonar is equivalent to the U.S. SQS-53C.^[7]

This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved. Find sources: "Kongō-class destroyer" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In December 2007, Japan conducted a successful test of the SM-3 block IA against a ballistic missile aboardKongō. This was the first time a Japanese ship was selected to launch the interceptor missile during a test of theAegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. In previous tests, they provided tracking and communications. Afterward, Japan has also undertaken another two successful Ballistic Missile Defense tests aboardMyōkō in October 2009 and aboardKirishima in October 2010, while one test aboardChōkai in November 2008 failed to intercept the target.

TheKongō-class destroyers are named aftermountains in Japan.

• Aegis Combat System
• List of naval ship classes in service
• List of active Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships

• Ishī, Kōyū (December 2019). "Overview of World's Aegis ships: Kongo-class".Ships of the World (in Japanese) (913).Kaijin-sha:88–89.NAID 40022058771.
• Kaijin-sha, ed. (August 2014). "All types of JMSDF's Missile destroyers: Kongo-class".Ships of the World (802). Kaijin-sha:90–93.NAID 40020136021.
• Kōda, Yōji[in Simple English] (December 2015). "History of Domestic Built Destroyers of JMSDF".Ships of the World (in Japanese) (827). Kaijin-sha.NAID 40020655404.
• Wertheim, Eric (2013).The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World, 16th Edition.Naval Institute Press.ISBN 978-1591149545.
• Yamazaki, Makoto (October 2011). "Combat systems of modern Japanese destroyers".Ships of the World (in Japanese) (748). Kaijin-sha:98–107.NAID 40018965310.
• Yamazaki, Makoto (August 2014). "Development of Japanese DDG".Ships of the World (802). Kaijin-sha:69–75.NAID 40020135975.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toKongou class destroyers.

• GlobalSecurity.org; JMSDF DDG Kongo Class
• Japan Maritime Self-Defense ForcesArchived 2014-10-14 at theWayback Machine page onAndrew Toppan's Haze Gray and Underway web site

• Kongō-class destroyers
• Destroyer classes
• Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

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