Editing Virginia-class cruiser (section)

{{short description|Nuclear guided-missile cruiser class of the US Navy}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2013}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = [[File:USS Virginia (CGN-38) at sea before 1984.jpg|300px|USS Virginia]]
| Ship caption = [[USS Virginia (CGN-38)]]
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
| Name = ''Virginia'' class
| Builders = [[Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company]]
| Operators = {{navy|United States}}
| Class before = {{sclass|California|cruiser|4}}
| Class after = *[[Strike cruiser]] (CSGN) (planned)
*{{sclass|Ticonderoga|cruiser|4}} (actual)
| Subclasses = 
| Cost = {{ShipCost|USA|675|m|year=1990|qty=1}}
| Built range = 1972–1980
| In commission range = 1976–1998
| Total ships building = 
| Total ships planned = 11
| Total ships completed = 4
| Total ships cancelled = 7
| Total ships active = 
| Total ships laid up = 
| Total ships lost = 
| Total ships retired = 4
| Total ships preserved = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = 
| Ship type = [[Guided-missile cruiser]]
| Ship displacement = *Light displacement: {{convert|10663|LT|MT}}
* Full displacement: {{convert|11666|LT|MT}}
| Ship length = {{convert|586|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|oa.]]
| Ship beam = {{convert|63|ft|m|abbr=on}} max.
| Ship draught = 
| Ship draft = {{convert|32|ft|m|abbr=on}} max.
| Ship propulsion = 2 [[General Electric]] [[D2G reactor|D2G nuclear reactors]], two shafts, {{convert|60000|shp|abbr=on}}
| Ship speed = over {{convert|30|kn|abbr=on}}
| Ship range = Unlimited
| Ship complement = 39 officers, 540 enlisted
| Ship sensors = *[[AN/SPS-48]]E 3-D air search radar
* [[AN/SPS-49]] 2-D air search radar
* [[AN/SPS-55]] surface search radar
* [[AN/SPQ-9]]A gun fire control radar
* [[AN/SPG-60 Radar|AN/SPG-60]] fire control radar
* [[AN/SPG-51]] missile fire control radar
* [[AN/SQS-26]] bow mounted sonar
| Ship EW = *[[AN/SLQ-32]]
* [[Mark 36 SRBOC]]
* [[AN/SLQ-25 Nixie]]
| Ship armament = *2 × [[Mark 26 missile launcher|Mk&nbsp;26 missile launchers]] for 68 missiles
* [[RIM-66 Standard|RIM-66 Standard Missiles]] (MR) / [[RUR-5 ASROC]]
* 8 × [[Tomahawk (missile family)|Tomahawk missile]] (from 2 armored-box launchers after a refitting)
* 8 × [[Harpoon (missile)|RGM-84 Harpoon]] (from two Mk-141 quad launchers)
* 4 × [[Mark 46 torpedo|Mk 46]] torpedoes (from fixed single tubes)
* 2 × [[5"/54 caliber Mark 45 gun|Mk-45 5-inch/54 caliber rapid-fire gun]]
* 2 × 20 mm [[Phalanx CIWS]] (post-refit)
* 2 × [[M242 Bushmaster#Naval|25 mm Mk 38]] chain guns
* 6 × [[M2 Browning|.50 cal (12.7 mm)]] M2 machine guns
| Ship armor = {{convert|1|in|mm|abbr=on}} Kevlar plastic armor installed around combat information center, magazines, and machinery spaces
| Ship aircraft = *As built: below-deck hangar for one SH-2F [[Seasprite]] helicopter
* Flight deck occupied by Tomahawk missile storage & launcher after refitting
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}

The '''''Virginia'' class''' (also known as the '''CGN-38 class''') were four [[nuclear marine propulsion|nuclear-powered]], [[guided-missile cruiser]]s that served in the [[United States Navy]] until the mid-to-late 1990s. The double-ended cruisers (with missile armament carried both fore and aft) were commissioned between 1976 and 1980.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.hullnumber.com/CGN-41 |title= USS ARKANSAS (CGN-41) Deployments & History |last= Sobocinski |first=Richard |publisher=HullNumber.com |access-date= 2016-09-22 |id= USS ''Arkansas'' commissioned in Oct. 1980 }}</ref> They were the final class of nuclear-powered cruisers completed and the last ships ordered as [[Destroyer Leader]]s under the [[United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification|pre-1975 classification system]].

The ships had relatively short service lives for surface ships. As nuclear-powered ships, they were expensive to operate. The class was coming up for their mid-life reactor refuelings when the 1994 Defense Authorization Bill was being formulated, which would effect cuts of 38% to the Navy's budget compared to the 1993 bill. The $300-million-plus cost of each refueling and other upgrades made the class easy targets for decommissioning. Each ship was therefore retired, starting with ''Texas'' in July 1993 and ending with ''Arkansas'' in 1998; all went through the nuclear vessel decommissioning and recycling program.