June 16 (UPI) -- A five-day multi-domain exercise by the guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta in the Sea of Japan was a success, the U.S. Navy said on Wednesday.
The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, which was forward-deployed to join the Navy's 7th Fleet in the Sea of Japan in February, conducted a live-fire gunnery exercise, maritime strike operations, flight operations, Tomahawk Land Attack Missile training, and visit, board, search and seizure training.
The ship's Tomahawk strike team conducted a training exercise demonstrating the ship's ability to track, target, and engage threats from the sea, air or land, the Navy said in a press release.
Sailors also conducted a high-caliber live-fire exercise using the 5-inch/54 caliber gun, close-in weapons system rail gun and Mk 38 25mm chain-fed machine gun.
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The ship participated in a fleet-level training exercise a month ago, conducting a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile strike scenario.
TLAM is a long range, subsonic cruise missile used for deep land attack warfare, launches from U.S. surface ships and submarines.
Tomahawk strike teams routinely conduct fleet-level training scenarios to maintain tactical and technical proficiency and integrate updated fleet tactics, in order to safely employ Tomahawk cruise missiles in support of theater operations.
The USS Rafael Peralta can also deploy with two MH-60 variant helicopters, and has ballistic missile defense, anti-air and surface warfare capabilities.
"Rafael Peralta is one of the newest, most capable ships in the Navy," Capt. Steven H. DeMoss, commodore of Destroyer Squadron Fifteen, said in a statement in February, when the vessel arrived at Fleet Activities Yokusuka, Japan, from San Diego.
"With our security treaties and mutual defense treaties across the Indo-Pacific, it is imperative that we meet those requirements with the most capable platforms," DeMoss said.
