Quote:
Originally Posted by Equilibrium
I was unaware that the Perry class had their Mk 13's deactivated. Would the fleet be that serious about leaving the ships of the class that vulnerable?
Why were they deactivated in the first place?
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According to my research, there were several reasons:
1. Perry's Mk 13 launcher fires only the SM1 missile. Since no other US ships use that now, it doesn't make sense to keep the inventory for a minor warship with limited capabilities.
2. Some allies still keep the SM1 on their warships, so all the navy's inventory was transfered/supplied/sold to allies to maintain their forces. The support for this missile is now entirely by civilian contractors.
3. It's a substantial investment to remove the Mk 13 launcher and the magazines and replace them with VLS or another weapon system (5" gun, RAM...) so the decision was made to leave the launcher and magazine in place. The launcher arm was removed. I'm only speculating that the magazine is still in the ships because to remove it entirely might unbalance the ship.
4. The Perrys are still in service because they can carry 2 helos. The early Burkes don't have helo hangers. So the navy now pairs them together. Burkes provide area air defense while Perrys provide helos for ASW work.