According to information published by the US DoD on January 5, 2023, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit.
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US Navy's Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Chung-Hoon. (Picture source: US DoD)
The Taiwan Strait is a subject of international dispute over its political status. As the People's Republic of China claims to enjoy "sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait" and regards the waterway as "internal territorial waters" instead of being international waters, this means that the Chinese government denies any foreign vessel having the freedom of navigation in the strait. This position has drawn strong objections from the United States, Australia, France and Taiwan.
About the destroyer
USS Chung-Hoon (DDG-93) is a Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyer serving in the United States Navy (USN). The contract to build her was awarded to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems on 6 March 1998, and her keel was laid down on 14 January 2002, at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Incorporated.
She was launched on 11 January 2003, sponsored by Michelle Punana Chung-Hoon of Honolulu, Hawaii, Chung-Hoon's niece, and commissioned on 18 September 2004.
The USS Chung-Hoon is powered by four General Electric LM2500 gas turbines developing 100,000 shp. She can reach a top speed of 31 knots (57 km/h).
The Arleigh Burke Flight IIA ships have several new features, beginning with USS Oscar Austin (DDG-79). Among the changes is the addition of two hangars for antisubmarine warfare (ASW) helicopters, and a new, longer 5-inch/62-caliber (127 mm) Mark 45 Mod 4 naval gun (installed onto USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81) and later ships).
Later Flight IIA ships starting with USS Mustin (DDG-89) have a modified funnel design that buries the funnels within the superstructure as a signature-reduction measure. TACTAS towed array sonar was omitted from Flight IIA ships and they also lack Harpoon missile launchers.
