The U.S. Navy's new Buck-class Aegis ship "Shop" will replace the USS Berry and be stationed at the Yokosuka base in Japan.

(Retrieved from Seventh Fleet Facebook)

[International News Center/Comprehensive Report] The U.S. Navy missile destroyer "USS Barry" (USS Barry) left Yokosuka Base, Japan on the 17th, ending a six-year forward deployment mission and taking over from its "Shoup" (USS Shoup) It arrived in December last year, showing that as tensions in the Taiwan Strait intensify, the U.S. Navy is speeding up its ship rotation operations and deploying its most powerful ships to the Indo-Pacific region.

"Nikkei Asia" reported on the 20th that the USS Berry, which belongs to the Seventh Fleet of the US Navy, was commissioned in December 1992 and is one of the oldest destroyers in active service in the US Navy.

This is the second ship in the series of the Arleigh Burke Class, after the lead ship USS Arleigh Burke.

The Shope is the Flight IIA version of the Burke-class missile destroyer. It is equipped with two MH-60 helicopters capable of air combat, submarine warfare and surface warfare. Action groups or amphibious readiness groups operate together.

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The USS Berry has been stationed in Yokosuka for only about 6 years, which is much shorter than the previous destroyers stationed in Yokosuka.

In 2021, the USS Curtis Wilbur and the USS John S. McCain will leave Japan after 25 and 24 years in Yokosuka, respectively.

Other destroyers have been stationed in Yokosuka for between 11 and 15 years.

Both the Weber and the McCann have passed through the Taiwan Strait several times.

According to reports, the naval officers who served as the commander of the Berry were Gary Roughead, who was later promoted to the Chief of Naval Command, and Stafforedi, who later served as the Supreme Allied Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). James Stavridis.

The Burke-class destroyers are the first destroyers in the world to be equipped with the AEGIS Weapons System, a powerful combination of computers and radars that can track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets.

While stationed in Yokosuka, the USS Berry participated in seven allied and coalition exercises, 12 foreign port visits and sailed nearly 30,000 miles (80,000 kilometers) in the Pacific Ocean, the US Navy said.

The Berry will now return to Everett, Washington, for routine maintenance.

Regarding the rapid rotation of forward-deployed ships, Luo Fuhe said that on the one hand, the rotation schedule of about six years allows forward-deployed ships to undergo more complex maintenance when they return to the United States. The scale of dispatched ships maintains a force with a stronger lineup and better combat readiness.

Stavredis also said that the addition of an Aegis ship equipped with helicopters comes at an opportune time, given concerns about the expansion of the Chinese navy in the Indo-Pacific region.