At the heart of every modern warship is the CIC. This is a rather large room with a bewildering array of computer consoles, control panels and information displays. From this location, just about every piece of tactical information is available, and almost all weapons systems are controlled. I think the only weapons that are not controlled from this location are the .50 caliber machine guns.

In spite of the fact that the main mission of the Kearsarge is to deliver a marine expeditionary force, which is an inherently offensive contingent, the ship itself is outfitted with only defensive weapons, primarily air defense and anti-missile capabilities.

OK, this is definitely guy-stuff - you ladies might find these missiles and things kind of boring, so I'll make it up to you at a later date by doing a few pages on my mom's quilting - OK? Any - these things are launchers for NATO Sea Sparrow air defense missiles. They are essentially the same as the airforce Sparrow air-to-air missiles carried aboard fighters. Kearsarge has 2 launchers, one on the stern, one in front of the main superstructure, and each launcher holds 8 missiles.

On the left we have the launchers for an AIM9 variant, basically Sidewinder heat-seekers (Sparrows are radar guided). These, like the Sparrows, are surface-to-air versions of the Sidewinders carried on fighters.

And then there is my personal favorite, the Phalanx Close-In Weapons System. (There have been more than a few moments when I wished I had one of these mounted on my truck so that I could appropriately deal with agressive, arrogant or just plain bone-headed drivers - let's bring road-rage into a whole different dimension). It fires between 3000 and 4500 rounds per minute of depleted uranium or tungsten projectiles through 6 rotating barrels (barely visible to lower right of the white cylinder).

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