Chokai (DDG-176) is a modern Japanese missile destroyer, the keel of which was laid in 1995, launched in August 1996, and commissioned in 1998. 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.
The Chokai (DDG-176) is the fourth and final destroyer 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 enhanced 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 last unit of this class, the Chokai (DDG-176), was built at the IHI Corporation shipyard in Tokyo. Its name refers to the Japanese heavy cruiser of World War II and the mountain in Japan of the same name. Around 2010, the unit underwent modernization, as a result of which it received a modernized version of the AEGIS system (version BMD 3.06), enabling the detection of ballistic missiles. It was also adapted to fire Standard SM-3 anti-ballistic missiles. In 2011, Chokai took part in a rescue and humanitarian operation in the northern part of Honshu, caused by the earthquake and tsunami. In 2016, the ship took part in the international RIMPAC maneuvers. Chokai (DDG-176) is in active service.