NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The Norfolk-based USS Oscar Austin is heading out on a seven-month deployment.
Media outlets report that the guided-missile destroyer left Norfolk Naval Station on Wednesday.
The ship and its crew are set to conduct operations in the Navy’s 6th Fleet area of responsibility, which includes Europe and Africa. It returned from its last deployment in December 2010 and most recently returned to Norfolk last week after taking part in training exercises.
The Navy says USS Oscar Austin is the first in the Flight IIA class of destroyers equipped with the AEGIS Weapons Systems. It is designed to incorporate shaping techniques to reduce radar detectability.
