The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Takanami-class multipurpose destroyers have been a mainstay of Japan’s fleet since entering service in the early 2000s. Now more than 20 years old, the five-ship class made headlines worldwide in September when the Sazanami became the first JMSDF warship ever to sail through the Taiwan strait. The Sazanami joins a growing number of warships from international navies conducting freedom-of-navigation voyages to dispute Chinese claims of sovereignty and jurisdiction.
The Takanami class was designed in the late 1990s as a follow-on and improved variant of the earlier nine-ship Murasame class, on which it is closely based. Construction of the Takanami began in 2000 at IHI Marine United shipyard in Yokosuka. She entered service in March 2003 with pennant number 110, alongside sister ship Onami, which is numbered 111 and built at Mitsubishi shipyard in Nagasaki. These destroyers were joined in 2004 and 2005 by the Makinami, numbered 112, and the Sazanami, numbered 113, which were built at IHI Marine United in Yokohama and Mitsubishi in Nagasaki, respectively. The fifth and final ship, Suzunami, entered service in early 2006. She is numbered 114 and was built at IHI Marine United, Yokohama.
Displacing 4,700 tons standard and 6,400 tons fully loaded, the Takanami class is operated by a crew of 176. Sensors include the OPS-24B 3D active electronically scanned phased-array air-search radar, OPS-28D surface-search radar, OPS-20 navigation radar, and two FCS-2-31 fire-control radars. For antisubmarine warfare (ASW), the class carries the OQS-5 bow-mounted sonar and an OQR-2 towed array. Two triple torpedo tube launchers are fitted, one port and one starboard, for short-range ASW. A hangar and aft helicopter landing deck can accommodate a single SH-60 Seahawk maritime helicopter.
The class is armed with up to eight SSM-1B/Type 90 antiship cruise missiles, which have a range of 80 nautical miles (nm) and are carried amidships in two quad canisters. A 32-cell Mk-41 vertical launch system (VLS) is fitted forward of the bridge. The VLS carries a mix of RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow (ESSM) surface-to-air missiles fitted in quad-packs allowing four missiles per cell, and vertical-launched antisubmarine rockets (VL-ASROCs). The ESSM has a reported range of more than 27 nm and a maximum speed exceeding Mach 4, while the VL-ASROC is designed to deploy a lightweight ASW torpedo, such as the Mk-46, extended distances from the destroyer. A single 5-inch, 54-caliber gun is mounted forward of the VLS and, two 20-mm Phalanx close-in weapon system gatling guns are fitted for point defense, one fore and one aft.
The Takanami-class destroyers are powered by four gas turbines with two shafts, providing a top speed of 30 knots and a cruising range of approximately 4,500 nm at 24 knots.
