The strike cruiser (proposed hull designator: CSGN) was a proposal from DARPA for a class of cruisers in the late 1970s. The proposal was for the Strike Cruiser to be a guided missile attack cruiser with a displacement of around 17,200 long tons (17,500 t), armed and equipped with the Aegis combat system, the SM-2, Harpoon anti-ship missile, the Tomahawk missile, and the Mk71 8-inch gun.
A prototype strike cruiser was to be the refurbished USS Long Beach; at a cost of roughly $800 million, however this never came to pass. Originally, eight to twelve strike cruisers were projected. The class would have been complemented by the Aegis-equipped fleet defense (DDG-47) version of the Spruance-class destroyer. Plagued with design difficulties and escalating cost, the project was canceled in the closing days of the Ford administration.[1] After the cancellation of the class, the Aegis destroyers were expanded into the Ticonderoga class (CG-47) Aegis cruiser program.