Flight IIA Ships
Oscar Austin is the first ship of the Flight IIA subclass of the Arleigh Burke class. Compared to previous Burkes, Flight IIAs are four feet and six inches (1.4 m) longer, displace about 900 tons more, carry six more VLS cells, and have a hangar that can house two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters. To prevent the additional superstructure aft from fouling radar returns, the rear-facing SPY-1D panels are one deck higher. Oscar Austin is one of two Flight IIA ships using the older 5″/54 caliber naval rifle (the other is Roosevelt (DDG-80)) which cannot use certain advanced munitions that require the longer 5"/62 caliber gun mounted by USS Winston S Churchill and later Burkes.
They have their Harpoon anti-ship missiles removed to reduce costs.
Read more about this topic: USS Oscar Austin (DDG-79)
Famous quotes containing the words flight and/or ships:
“What a cunning mixture of sentiment, pity, tenderness, irony surrounds adolescence, what knowing watchfulness! Young birds on their first flight are hardly so hovered around.”
—Georges Bernanos (1888–1948)
“Oh, let me midlife mourn by the shrined
And druid herons’ vows
The voyage to ruin I must run,
Dawn ships clouted aground,
Yet, though I cry with tumbledown tongue,
Count my blessings aloud....”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)