United States Navy

==== Cruisers ====
{{Main|List of cruisers of the United States Navy}}
[[File:US Navy 030903-N-5024R-003 USS Port Royal (DDG 73) departed on deployment.jpg|thumb|{{USS|Port Royal|CG-73|6}}, a {{sclass|Ticonderoga|cruiser}}]]

[[Cruiser]]s are large surface combat vessels that conduct anti-air/anti-missile warfare, surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and strike operations independently or as members of a larger task force. Modern guided missile cruisers were developed out of a need to counter the [[anti-ship missile]] threat facing the United States Navy. This led to the development of the [[AN/SPY-1]] phased array radar and the [[RIM-67 Standard]] missile with the Aegis combat system coordinating the two. {{sclass|Ticonderoga|cruiser|2}}<nowiki/>s were the first to be equipped with Aegis and were put to use primarily as anti-air and anti-missile defense in a battle force protection role. Later developments of [[vertical launch system]]s and the [[BGM-109 Tomahawk|Tomahawk missile]] gave cruisers additional long-range land and sea strike capability, making them capable of both offensive and defensive battle operations. The ''Ticonderoga'' class is the only active class of cruiser. All cruisers in this class are named after battles.<ref name=":1" />