The USS Pinckney (DDG-91) is a modern American missile destroyer, the keel of which was laid in 2001, it was launched in June 2002, and it entered service with the US Navy in 2004. The total length of the ship is 155.3 meters and a width of 20 meters. Full displacement is around 9,200 tons and the maximum speed is just over 30 knots. The destroyer is armed with: 2 VLS Mk. 41 - one 32-rail and one 64-rail, single 127mm gun or one 20mm Vulcan Phalanx CIWS set. The ship can operate with the use of two on-board helicopters, eg the Sikorsky SH-60.
USS Pinckney (DDG-91) is one of 65 active service destroyers belonging to the Arleigh Burke class. Units of this type were designed, were and are being built as multi-role destroyers, in which, however, special emphasis was placed on countering air targets. In the construction of these ships, the British experience from the Falklands war was used, and as a result, Kevlar armor was added to the most viable parts of ships of this class. At the same time, the Arleigh Burke-class ships have the revolutionary AEGIS network combat system, cooperating with the AN / SPY-1 radar, which provides them with unprecedented possibilities to control the airspace and counter air targets. This is the same system used on the Ticonderoga-class cruisers. One of the units of this class is the USS Pinckney (DDG-91). The ship was built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. It was constructed in accordance with the Flight IIA standard, which means that compared to the Flight I standard, it has larger VLS launchers, the barrel of the 127 mm cannon has been extended, thanks to which its ballistic properties have improved and it has more modern electronic equipment. In addition, the USS Pinckney subtype has only one Vulcan Phalanx kit compared to two such kits mounted on standard vessels: Flight I, Flight II and the initial Flight IIA. USS Pinckney made its first operational cruise in the Pacific, calling at ports on the island of Guam, Singapore, Australia and Hawaii. In 2007, the unit received the Battle Effectiveness Award for the previous year. In the same year, the unit was part of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier team. In 2014, the ship operated off the coast of Vietnam supporting the Malaysia Airlines search for a lost plane. USS Pinckney remains active.