Congo (DDG-173) is a modern Japanese missile destroyer, the keel of which was laid in 1990, launched in September 1991, and commissioned in 1993. The total length of the ship is 161 meters and a width of 21 meters. Full displacement is about 9,500 tons, and the maximum speed is around 30-31 knots. The destroyer is armed with: 2 VLS Mk. 41 - one 29-rail and one 61-rail, two quad RGM-84 Harpoon missile launchers, a single 127mm Mark 45 cannon or two 20mm Vulcan Phalanx sets. The ship has a landing pad for an on-board helicopter.
The Congo (DDG-173) is the first of four destroyers belonging to the class of the same name - the Congo. In the second half of the 1980s, it was decided in Japan to create a new class of missile destroyers with significantly greater combat capabilities than the ships of the previous Hatakaze class. At the same time, it was assumed that the new destroyers would be multi-purpose, but would have clearly expanded capabilities to counter air targets. Finally, in order to reduce the costs of research and development, as well as to facilitate cooperation with US Navy units, the project of a new class of Japanese destroyers was based on the American Arleigh Burke Flight I units. Thus, the Kongo-type units have the revolutionary AEGIS network combat system. , cooperating with the AN / SPY-1 radar, which provided them with unprecedented possibilities to control the airspace and counter air targets. They also have vertical missile launchers (VLS), which significantly increase their combat capabilities. For legal and political reasons, the Congo-class destroyers are not equipped with BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles. The first of this class, the Congo (DDG-173), was built at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in Nagasaki. Its name refers to the Japanese battleship of the Second World War and the mountain in Japan of the same name. At the beginning of the 21st century, the Congo was equipped with a modernized version of the AEGIS system (version BMD 3.06), and in 2007 the unit was equipped with SM-3 Block IA missiles, which enable the interception of enemy ballistic missiles. Thus, the destroyer Congo has become an element of the AEGIS BMD system, which significantly improves Japan's protection against a potential rocket attack by the DPRK.