The Mark 41 Vertical Launching System is a shipborne missile canister launching system which provides a rapid-fire launch capability against hostile threats. The Vertical Launch System (VLS) concept was derived from work on the Aegis Combat System.
A single 8-cell Mk 41 VLS module fitted to New Zealand frigate HMNZS Te Kaha
Mark 41 Mod 0 Vertical Launching System on USS Chosin
A Tomahawk missile being launched from the Mark 41 Vertical Launching System aboard the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Farragut
The VLS cells onboard USS San Jacinto.
Ticonderoga-class cruiser
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The Ticonderoga class of guided-missile cruisers is a class of warships of the United States Navy, first ordered and authorized in the 1978 fiscal year. It was originally planned as a class of destroyers. However, the increased combat capability offered by the Aegis Combat System and the passive phased array AN/SPY-1 radar, together with the capability of operating as a flagship, were used to justify the change of the classification from DDG to CG shortly before the keels were laid down for Ticonderoga and Yorktown.
USS Lake Champlain
From left to right: Thomas S. Gates, Ticonderoga, and Yorktown laid up in Philadelphia, May 2016
Bunker Hill (rear) with Lekir of the Royal Malaysian Navy during a passing exercise in the Strait of Malacca
Ticonderoga–class cruisers (right) were built on the same hull as the Spruance-class destroyer (left).