CG (X)

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CG (X) was a United States Navy shipbuilding project .

The aim was to put a new type of guided missile cruiser into service. CG stood for "Cruiser (with) Guided Missiles", German: cruiser with guided missiles. The CG (X) project was preceded by the DD (X) project, which deals with destroyers . The CG (X) ships were intended to complement the cannon-designed DD (X) destroyers in terms of guided missiles, replacing the Ticonderoga class . As recently as the fall of 2008, the US Navy's official plans assumed that 19 CG (X) ships would replace the 22 Ticonderoga cruisers. The original financial plan was for the purchase of the first ship in the new class in 2011. In the 2009 budget year, around 250 million US dollars were earmarked for the project. According to the original financial plan, a little more than $ 9 billion should be invested in the development and construction of the first two ships by 2013. The cost estimates for each ship range between $ 2.5 billion and $ 4.2 billion.

The program was stopped in 2010 as part of the Quadrennial Defense Review for cost reasons.

Goals of the CG (X) project

Defense against air threats

This should be the main task of the CG (X) project. With the help of a further development of the Aegis combat system , the ships should be able to put a protective screen against air targets around themselves and other, neighboring ships and coastal regions. In particular, the ships should be able to fight ballistic missiles in flight. Because of this property, the ships would have been used primarily as escort ships for aircraft carriers and destroyers.

Surveillance and enemy detection

The CG (X) cruisers should also have high-performance radar and thus be able to monitor aerial targets even at great distances. This should significantly extend the warning time in the event of an attack and significantly improve airspace surveillance overall.

Attack distant sea, land and air targets

The armament of the CG (X) should mainly consist of guided missiles, as the range is clearly superior to conventional projectile weapons . The RIM-67 Standard Missile 2 surface-to-air guided missile has a range of up to 370 kilometers. The CG (X) class should have various missiles that should be able to destroy sea, land or air targets. One or two smaller guns were planned as close combat equipment. In addition, anti-submarine weapons and a CIWS for fighting missiles should also be installed.

Reduced costs

One of the most important goals was to reduce the costs of ongoing operations. This should be achieved by using modern technology and reducing the number of crews. Many components were to be taken over from the DD (X) project, especially the gas turbine and the energy supply systems.

Furnishing

When planning the equipment, the engineers assumed that the ships would have to guarantee enormous power consumption. The US Navy estimates the energy requirement at up to 31 megawatts compared to five megawatts for the Ticonderoga class. A powerful telecommunication system was provided for the rapid and comprehensive exchange of information with other ships of the combat units. For this, the AEGIS system should be further developed. As in the DD (X) project, camouflage was given an important role. For this purpose, the outer skin should be given a special shape.

Development of the program

In November 2001 the US Navy announced the start of a development program for future surface vessels. In addition to the CG (X), the destroyers of the Zumwalt class and the coastal combat ships of the LCS class were also part of this program. The CG (X) should replace the Ticonderoga cruisers, which will be decommissioned from 2021.

The Center for Naval Analyzes , a US government funded research center, came up with the idea of ​​building two different versions of the CG (X) in mid-2007 . 14 units, about 14,000 standard tons in size and based on the stealth principles of the Zumwalt class , would be provided for the air defense of the carrier combat groups and other conventional tasks. Five more ships, around 25,000 standard tons in size and built with conventional hulls, would be used for the National Missile Defense . Camouflage would be unnecessary here, since powerful radars would be in constant operation anyway and the ships would be so easy to find. They would be designed as nuclear cruisers to satisfy the radars' extreme hunger for energy.

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