Mark 41 Vertical Launching System

The Mark 41 Vertical Launching System is a shipborne missile canister launcher developed by Martin Marietta and Lockheed Martin for the United States Navy, with the vertical-launch concept drawn from work on the Aegis Combat System. It has been in service since 1986 and can fire a range of missile types from the same canisters, including RIM-66 Standard, RIM-156 Standard ER, RIM-161 SM-3 and RIM-174 SM-6 surface-to-air missiles, RGM-109 Tomahawk and Joint Strike Missile surface-to-surface missiles, and the RUM-139 VL-ASROC anti-submarine missile. Beyond the United States Navy, which mounts it on Ticonderoga-class cruisers, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, Spruance-class destroyers and Zumwalt-class destroyers, it is also operated by Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey and the United Kingdom.