Stars and Stripes:
WATERS EAST OF JAPAN – The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) entered the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations on May 14, to join the forward deployed U.S. naval forces (FDNF) in Japan. Milus joins Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15 to support security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region by bringing enhanced missile defense capabilities as a ballistic missile defense (BMD) platform.
“I am very excited that Milius is coming to DESRON 15,” said Capt. Jonathan Duffy, commander, DESRON 15. “The ship’s advanced capabilities will be vital in support of our missions in the Indo-Pacific region.”
During the past year, while homeported in San Diego, Milius was fitted with the Aegis Baseline 9 combat system, upgrading its air defense, ballistic missile defense, surface warfare and undersea warfare capabilities. The ship then completed Combat System Ship’s Qualification trials and multiple live-fire events to perform operational testing of its new weapons technology.