Editing USS Donald Cook (section)

== Upgrade ==
On 12 November 2009, the [[Missile Defense Agency]] announced that ''Donald Cook'' would be upgraded during fiscal 2012 to [[RIM-161 Standard Missile 3]] (SM-3) capability to function as part of the [[Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System]].<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/11/navy_aegisbmd_111209w/ |title= MDA announces next 6 BMD ships |newspaper= [[Navy Times]] |date= 12 November 2009 |last=Ewing |first=Philip |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 2016, four destroyers patrolling with the [[U.S. 6th Fleet]] based in Naval Station Rota, Spain, including ''Donald Cook'' received self-protection upgrades, replacing the aft [[Phalanx CIWS]] 20 mm [[Vulcan cannon]] with the [[RIM-116 RAM#SeaRAM (weapon system)|SeaRAM]] 11-cell [[RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile]] launcher. The SeaRam uses the same sensor dome as the Phalanx. This was the first time the close-range ship defense system was paired with an Aegis ship. All four ships to receive the upgrade were either Flight I or II, meaning they originally had two Phalanx CIWS systems when launched.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.usni.org/2015/09/15/navy-integrating-searam-on-rota-based-ddgs-first-installation-complete-in-November |title=Navy Integrating SeaRAM on Rota-Based DDGs; First Installation Complete In November |last=Eckstein |first=Megan |website=usni.org |publisher=U.S. Naval Institute |date=15 September 2015 |access-date=20 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008160945/https://news.usni.org/2015/09/15/navy-integrating-searam-on-rota-based-ddgs-first-installation-complete-in-November |archive-date=8 October 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>