Maya-class destroyer

The Maya class of guided missile destroyers (まや型護衛艦) is Japan's latest AEGIS-equipped guided missile destroyers set to enter service in 2020.

Development
In August 2015, a new subclass of the Atago-class destroyer, dubbed the 27DDG Destroyer, was announced. With an empty displacement of 8,200 tons, the new class is intended to be equipped with the Aegis combat system and also be equipped with Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) equipment, equivalent to that used on the United States Navy's Flight 2A:Restart guided missile destroyers which are capable of launching  SM-3 block II anti-ballistic missiles. The ships propulsion system has been changed from COGAG from Atago  class to a COGLAG to improve fuel economy. The first two ships of the new class are expected to enter service in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

Future armaments for the ships is slated to include locally built railgun and laser point-defense system.

Design
Being an improved subclass of the Atago-class destroyer, the Maya-class is very similar to its parent class but with several differences and improvements.


 * 1) While it shares the same design characteristics as the Atago-class, the Maya-class possesses a larger hull. The enlarged hull is believed to allow future naval weapons to be accommodated, most notably railguns and laser point-defense systems.
 * 2) The ships will be powered by a COGLAG propulsion system to improve the management and distribution of power in light of its future weapon accommodation.
 * 3) The Maya-class features the newer Aegis Baseline 9 (referred as J7 in Japan) system. The Atago-class uses the Aegis Baseline 7 system.
 * 4) The Maya-class is equipped with the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) system. This will allow the ship to share surveillance or targeting  information between other CEC equipped assets, whether that be from ships from the American or Australian Navy or from American or Japanese E-2 Hawkeye.
 * 5) The ships are equipped with the SM-3 Block IIA and SM-6 missiles. The SM-3 Block IIA is the latest variant of the SM-3 missiles and is joint developed between the U.S. and Japan. The SM-6 missiles can be networked to the CEC system and thus allow it to receive targeting information from other CEC equipped sources. While the primary role of the SM-6 is to intercept enemy aircraft and cruise missiles, the SM-6 is also capable of intercepting medium-range ballistic missile and can double as an anti-ship missile. This gives the Maya-class more flexibility in handling threats than its predecessors.
 * 6) The ship will use a ship mounted version of the Type 12 Surface-to-Ship Missile. The Type 12 missile is an upgraded Type 88 Surface-to-Ship Missile, which in turn developed the Type 90 Ship-to-Ship Missile that the Atago-class uses.