Strike cruiser

A strike cruiser (proposed hull designator: CSGN) was a proposal from DARPA on the next generation of cruisers in the late 1970s. It was to be a guided missile attack cruiser with a displacement of around 17200 LT, armed and equipped with SM-2, Harpoon and Tomahawk missiles, an 8-inch gun, and the Aegis phased array radar system.

A prototype strike cruiser was to be the refurbished USS Long Beach (CGN-9); at a cost of roughly $800 million, however this never came to pass.

Originally, eight to a dozen strike cruisers were projected. The cruiser was to have arsenal ship offensive capabilities coupled with Aegis defensive capabilities in a nuclear-powered package. The class would have complemented the Aegis-equipped fleet defense (DDG-47) version of the Spruance class destroyers. After the CSGN cancellation, the Aegis destroyers were expanded into the Ticonderoga-class (CG-47) Aegis cruiser program.