Kirishima (DDG-174) is a modern Japanese missile destroyer, the keel of which was laid in 1992, it was launched in August 1993, and it was commissioned in 1995. The total length of the ship is 161 meters and a width of 21 meters. Full displacement is about 9,500 tons, and the maximum speed is around 30-31 knots. The destroyer is armed with: 2 VLS Mk. 41 - one 29-rail and one 61-rail, two quad RGM-84 Harpoon missile launchers, a single 127mm Mark 45 cannon or two 20mm Vulcan Phalanx sets. The ship has a landing pad for an on-board helicopter.
Kirishima (DDG-174)) is the second of four destroyers belonging to the Congo-class. In the second half of the 1980s, it was decided in Japan to create a new class of missile destroyers with significantly greater combat capabilities than the ships of the previous Hatakaze class. At the same time, it was assumed that the new destroyers would be multi-purpose, but would have clearly expanded capabilities to counter air targets. Finally, in order to reduce the costs of research and development, as well as to facilitate cooperation with US Navy units, the project of a new class of Japanese destroyers was based on the American Arleigh Burke Flight I units. Thus, the Kongo-type units have the revolutionary AEGIS network combat system. , cooperating with the AN / SPY-1 radar, which provided them with unprecedented possibilities to control the airspace and counter air targets. They also have vertical missile launchers (VLS), which significantly increase their combat capabilities. For legal and political reasons, the Congo-class destroyers are not equipped with BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles. The second of this class, the Kirishima (DDG-174), was built at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in Nagasaki. Its name refers to the Japanese battleship of the Second World War and the mountain in Japan of the same name. In 2003, the unit was sent to the Indian Ocean in order to support American activities related to the so-called war on terrorism, which nevertheless sparked some protests in Japan. Shortly thereafter, Kirishima was equipped with a modernized version of the AEGIS system (version BMD 3.06), capable of detecting ballistic missiles. In 2011, the unit supported a rescue and humanitarian operation in the northern part of Honshu, caused by the earthquake and tsunami wave. A year later, it operated in the Korean Peninsula in connection with the DPRK's missile weapons tests. In 2014, it took part in an exercise code-named "Keen Sword 15", in which it was a cover unit for the US carrier USS George Washington. The individual is in active service.