Abukuma-class destroyer escort

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JS Ōyodo in Maizuru port
Class overview
Builders	Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Company Limited Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Operators	Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
Preceded by	Yūbari class
Succeeded by	Mogami class
Built	1988–1991
In commission	1989–present
Planned	11
Completed	6
Cancelled	5
Active	6
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer escort
Displacement	2,000 tons standard 2,550 tons full load
Length	357 ft (109 m)
Beam	44 ft (13 m)
Draft	12 ft (3.7 m)
Propulsion	CODOG, two shafts 2 × Kawasaki-RR SM1A gas turbines26,650 hp (19,870 kW) 2 × Mitsubishi S12U MTK diesels 6,000 hp (4,500 kW)
Speed	27 knots (50 km/h)
Complement	120
Sensors and processing systems	OPS-14 air search radar FCS-2
Armament	8 × Harpoon missiles ASROC octuple launcher 1 × Otobreda 76 mm gun 1 × Phalanx 20 mm CIWS 2 × HOS-301 triple 324 mm (12.8 in) torpedo tubes

The Abukuma-class destroyer escort (or frigate) (Japanese: あぶくま型護衛艦, romanized: Abukumagatagoeikan) is the general-purpose destroyer escort of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. It is the successor of the earlier Yūbari class.^[1]

They are being replaced by the Mogami-class frigates.^[2]

This class was planned to replace the earlier Isuzu class and possess both anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability as the successor of the Chikugo class and anti-surface warfare (ASuW) capability as the successor of the Yūbari class, but there are many enhancements as follows:

This class is the first combatant ship of the JMSDF with stealth technology. Their superstructure has traditional vertical surfaces, but their hulls are angled to reduce their radar cross section.

This is the first destroyer escort class with the Naval Tactical Data System and OYQ-7 combat direction system. It is also the first destroyer escort class which has ECM capability with the OLT-3 jammer.

The Short Range Air Defense system comprises the OPS-14 air-search radar, the OPS-28 surface search and target acquisition radar, one Otobreda 76 mm rapid-firing gun controlled by the FCS-2 fire-control system and Phalanx CIWS. The OPS-14 is the Japanese equivalent of the American AN/SPS-49 radar, and the OPS-28 is the equivalent of the American TAS Mk.23. Phalanx CIWS has given the ships an improved self-defence capability against anti-ship missiles. Mk.31 RAM GMWS Point Defense Missile System was planned, but it is not installed yet.

The ASW system comprises an OQS-8 hull-sonar (Japanese equivalent of the American DE-1167), ASROC anti-submarine rocket from the Type 74 octuple launcher (Japanese license-built version of the American Mark 16 GMLS) and lightweight ASW torpedoes from two HOS-301 triple 324 mm (12.8 in) torpedo tubes. A tactical towed-array sonar system was planned but it is not installed yet.

The JMSDF intended to build eleven ships of this class, but finally, only six were built because Hatsuyuki-class destroyers started deploying in distinct forces. All six vessels in this class are named after Japanese rivers.

• List of naval ship classes in service

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Abukuma class frigates.

• Jane's Fighting Ships 2005-2006
• Wertheim, Eric (2007). Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Systems. Naval Institute Press. pp. 385–386. ISBN 978-1-59114-955-2.