Asagiri continues Japan's habit of building numbers without freezing technology at the previous class's standard. The ships add communications that support wide-area operations with allies while retaining helicopters, Sea Sparrow, and the 76 mm gun. Their combined-gas-and-gas machinery differs from the earlier combined-gas-or-gas arrangement: COGAG can bring equal-power turbines together through gearboxes and clutches instead of selecting separate cruise or high-speed plants. Images of the class with American and British carriers show how this engineering and communications investment also produces global presence and alliance interoperability.
Notable Point · 1:10:54-1:12:41
Asagiri combines COGAG power with allied presence
The Asagiri class pairs continued Cold War mass-building with communications for allied operations and a COGAG plant that can combine equal-power turbines for efficient deployment.