USS Wayne E. Meyer center of Aegis system

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- The commissioning of the USS Wayne E. Meyer is an endorsement of the Aegis combat system as a primary component of missile defense, advocates say.

U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, joined Adm. Gary Roughhead, the chief of U.S. naval operations, in commissioning the 58th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in a weekend ceremony in Philadelphia.

Riki Ellison, chairman and president of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, lauded the commissioning as an endorsements of the Aegis weapon as the "primary system" of the missile defense plan laid out by U.S. leaders for European defense.

The U.S. Navy deployed the Arleigh Burke class to patrol the waters of North Korea as a deterrent in the face of a nuclear threat, while its humanitarian missions included aid for the citizens of the republic of Georgia following conflict with Russia in 2008.

The USS Wayne E. Meyer carries the 110th Aegis weapons system. Ellison explained the Aegis system could track and destroy North Korean missiles, including the short-range missile tested Monday.

"It is the Aegis combat system that is the primary defense for U.S. deployed forces in East Asia and it is the most significant protector of Japan and South Korea from North Korea ballistic missiles," he said.