MEDITERRANEAN SEA (April 7, 2017) The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) conducts strike operations while in the Mediterranean Sea. Porter, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe. (U.S. Navy video by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ford Williams/Released)
News from Syria that the United States has launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missile strikes in Syria.
The airstrikes have focused on air bases in Syria, and were launched from US Naval vessels. U.S. released video from two warships based in the eastern Mediterranean — the USS Porter and the USS Ross. Both warship have been training for the past two days to execute this mission.
Fifty-nine Tomahawk missiles targeted an airbase at Shayrat, located outside Homs. The missiles targeted the base’s airstrips, hangars, control tower and ammunition areas, according to naval officials
Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said initial indications were that the mission “had “severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment … reducing the Syrian Government’s ability to deliver chemical weapons.”
The U.S. cruise missiles were launched or hit about 7:45 p.m. Central time, 3:45 a.m. local time Friday morning in Syria. Syrian state TV reported a U.S. missile attack on a number of military targets and called the attack an “aggression.”
Developing …
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US Tomahawk cruise missile strikes in Syria launched from USS Ross.
USS Porter (DDG-78) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. Porter is the fifth U.S. Navy ship to be named after U.S. Navy officers Commodore David Porter, and his son, Admiral David Dixon Porter.
USS Ross (DDG-71) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer in the United States Navy, and is named for Medal of Honor recipient Donald K. Ross.
The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers (DDGs) is the United States Navy’s first class of destroyer built around the Aegis Combat System and the SPY-1D multifunction passive electronically scanned array radar. The class is named for Admiral Arleigh Burke, the most famous American destroyer officer of World War II, and later became Chief of Naval Operations. The class leader, USS Arleigh Burke, was commissioned during Admiral Burke’s lifetime.
Strategic land strike with Tomahawk missiles is only one function of the destroyer. The warship includes Aegis radar and surface-to-air missiles; antisubmarine warfare (ASW), with towed sonar array, anti-submarine rockets, an ASW helicopter; antisurface warfare (ASuW) with a Harpoon missile launcher, which is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile system.