USS HOPPER DDG-70

USS Hopper (DDG-70) is a modern American missile destroyer, the keel of which was laid in 1995, the launch took place in January 1996, and entry into service with the US Navy took place in 1997. The total length of the ship is 154 meters and 20 meters wide. Full displacement is around 9,000 tons and the maximum speed is just over 30 knots. The destroyer is armed with: 2 VLS Mk. 41 - one 29-rail and one 61-rail, 2 quad Harpoon rocket launchers, a single 127mm Mark 45 cannon or two 20mm Vulcan Phalanx kits. The ship may operate with the use of in-flight helicopters, eg the Sikorsky MH-60R. USS Hopper (DDG-70) is one of 65 active service destroyers belonging to the Arleigh Burke class. Units of this type were designed, were and are being built as multi-role destroyers, in which, however, special emphasis was placed on countering air targets. In the construction of these ships, the British experience from the Falklands war was used, and as a result, Kevlar armor was added to the most viable parts of ships of this class. At the same time, the Arleigh Burke-class ships have the revolutionary AEGIS network combat system, cooperating with the AN / SPY-1 radar, which provides them with unprecedented possibilities to control the airspace and counter air targets. This is the same system used on the Ticonderoga-class cruisers. One of the units of this class is the USS Hopper (DDG-70). The ship was built at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. It was constructed in accordance with the Flight I standard. Shortly after entering service, USS Hopper took part in the large-scale international RIMPAC 98 maneuvers. In 2002 and 2004, it operated in the Persian Gulf region. In 2008, he was involved in an incident with Iranian Revolutionary Guard patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz. However, at the beginning of 2018, the ship operated in the South China Sea. USS Hopper remains in active service.