Navy could upgrade all Aegis ships with BMD

[unhappycamper]

Navy could upgrade all Aegis ships with BMD
By Zachary M. Peterson - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 24, 2008 5:52:14 EST

The Navy is considering equipping all of its cruisers and destroyers with the capability to shoot down an enemy missile from sea, the director of surface warfare said recently.

By the end of 2009, the Navy plans to have 18 ships — 15 destroyers and three cruisers — fitted with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system, the backbone of the service’s multibillion dollar sea-based missile defense program, built by Lockheed Martin.

Eventually the Navy will equip all its Arleigh Burke-class destroyers with missile defense technology, but it remains uncertain if all 22 cruisers will be upgraded as well.

Nonetheless, the Navy is mulling adding Aegis BMD to the remaining 19 cruisers as part of an “extensive modernization program,” said Rear Adm. Victor Guillory, who heads the surface warfare directorate at the Pentagon. He spoke Jan. 15 at the Surface Navy Association’s annual conference in Arlington, Va. The modernization program is currently scheduled to begin in 2012, Guillroy said.

Guillory said his office is looking ways to fund the cruiser upgrade in its long-term budget planning.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/01/navy_aegis_upgrade_080123w/



uhc comment: You'll see lots of names you know --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegis_Ballistic_Missile_Defense_System

Read all about the Aegis system --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegis_combat_system

Of course, there's no $$$ figures.