USS Milius Brings Enhanced Missile Defense to U.S 7th Fleet

AT SEA —

The guided missile destroyer USS Milius entered the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations May 14 to join the forward-deployed U.S. naval forces in Japan.

Milius joins Destroyer Squadron 15 to support security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region by bringing enhanced missile defense capabilities as a ballistic missile defense platform.

“I am very excited that Milius is coming to DESRON 15,” said Navy Capt. Jonathan Duffy, the commander of 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.

Hard-Working Crew

“I could not be prouder of this crew and their hard work and dedication leading up to this deployment,” said Navy Cmdr. Jennifer Pontius, the commander of the USS Milius. “The crew has trained extremely hard to get the ship fully certified and ready for tasking, and we are excited to operate forward and bring new capabilities to the [forward-deployed U.S. naval forces]…