Sailors assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104) fires its Mark 45 Lightweight Gun Mount during a composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX), as part of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group (CSG). COMPTUEX is an intensive exercise designed to fully integrate units of the CSG, while testing its ability as a whole to carry out sustained combat operations from the sea. The Nimitz Carrier strike groups (Carrier Strike Group 11 or CSG-11 ) gain and maintain sea control as well as project naval airpower ashore.
USS Sterett (DDG-104) is a Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. USS Sterett is the fourth ship of the U.S. Navy to be named after Andrew Sterett, a U.S. naval officer who fought in the Quasi-War and the Barbary Wars. USS Sterett served as one of the filming locations for the TNT’s television series The Last Ship and its fictional setting, USS Nathan James (DDG-151).
The 127 mm (5″)/54 caliber (Mk 45) lightweight gun is a U.S. naval artillery gun mount consisting of a 127 mm (5 in) L54 Mark 19 gun on the Mark 45 mount. It was designed and built by United Defense, a company later acquired by BAE Systems Land & Armaments, which continued manufacture.The latest 62 calibre long version consists of a longer-barrel L62 Mark 36 gun fitted on the same Mark 45 mount. The gun is designed for use against surface warships, anti-aircraft and shore bombardment to support amphibious operations.
