While this means they have a similar role to the guided missile cruisers, destroyers are smaller and faster and are designed to reduce their profile on enemy radar - though it is unclear whether this technology is successful.

The Arleigh Burke-class vessels are equipped with launch tubes for Tomahawk cruise missiles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and gun placements for close combat.

It also carries the advanced AEGIS air defence system that is rapidly becoming the backbone of US naval radar. Conventional defence systems use one rotating radar unit to find a target and a second to subsequently track it for risk assessment.

The AEGIS system brings both functions together by continually sending out signals in all directions, theoretically meaning it can search for and track hundreds of targets at the same time.

The US Navy regards the Arleigh-Burke destroyers as the most "survivable" warships in the world because they are designed to withstand all manner of attacks and then escape.

These measures include Kevlar lining to reduce shrapnel damage, insulation against electro-magnetic pulses caused by nuclear explosions and sound and shock absorbers in crewed areas.